SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Serious Fraud Office

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) allegations and (b) reports of bribery of a foreign public official by a UK company or individual have been forwarded to the Serious Fraud Office by the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice in the US since 1997; and on what dates they were received.

Harriet Harman: The SFO has received no reports of allegations of bribery of a foreign public official by a UK company or individual from the US Department of Justice since 1997.
	One request for mutual legal assistance has been made involving a suspicion of bribery. In this instance the alleged offences took place prior to the implementation of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

Serious Fraud Office

Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many allegations of bribery of a foreign public official the Serious Fraud Office received between November 1997 and February 2002; and how many of these allegations led to an investigation.

Harriet Harman: The SFO have identified four cases referred to it between November 1997 and February 2002 where bribery of a foreign official has been one of the allegations. None of these cases have resulted in an investigation.

Serious Fraud Office

Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many of the requests for mutual legal assistance on corruption offences received by the Serious Fraud Office have (a) indicated an offence by a UK individual or company and (b) led to an investigation by the SFO into a possible UK offence.

Harriet Harman: Prior to the implementation of the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, the SFO did not record the category of offences referred for mutual legal assistance by foreign authorities.
	Since February 2002, the SFO has identified three mutual legal assistance requests where there may be suspicion of corruption offences of persons overseas involving UK citizens or companies.
	These requests have not resulted in a domestic investigation. Two of the requests are still being assessed and the relevant offences in the other request took place prior to the implementation of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

Serious Fraud Office

Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Serious Fraud Office has received additional resources for enforcing Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 since February 2002.

Harriet Harman: The SFO has received no additional resource since February 2002 specifically for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting using the provisions of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
	As part of the 2002 Spending Review, the resource budget of the Serious Fraud Office will rise to £35.34 million by the end of the 2005–06 financial year. The Serious Fraud Office plans to use some of this resource to expand its permanent staff numbers from 232 to approximately 300 by the end of that financial year.
	The Serious Fraud Office does not allocate its staff resource to a particular type of crime or case. Each case referred to the SFO is assessed on its individual merits, and this includes allegations of bribery by UK citizens or companies overseas.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Commonwealth Scholarships Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development who the members of the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission were on 1 January 2004; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Hilary Benn: The 14 members of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission were:
	
		
			 Member First Appointed Current Appointment Ends 
		
		
			 Professor Trudy Harpham (Chair) (1)12.12.01 11.12.04 
			 Professor William Hill (Deputy Chair) (2)01.03.98 28.02.04 
			 Professor Jang B. Dilawari 01.03.98 28.02.04 
			 Mr Sharon Huttly 01.01.02 31.12.04 
			 Professor Maxwell Irvine 01.01.02 31.12.04 
			 Professor David Johns 01.01.02 31.12.04 
			 Ms Caren Levy 01.04.00 31.03.06 
			 Dr Derek Miles 01.04.00 31.03.06 
			 Professor John Morgan 01.08.02 31.07.05 
			 Dr Hilary Perraton 01.05.02 30.04.05 
			 Dr Patricia Richardson 01.04.00 31.03.06 
			 Professor Timothy Shaw 01.05.02 30.04.05 
			 Professor Gurharpal Singh 01.01.02 31.12.04 
			 Professor Martin Snaith 01.01.02 31.12.04 
		
	
	(1) As Chair. Member of Commission since 1 March 1998
	(2) To the Commission. Appointed Deputy Chair on 12 December 2001
	The Chair of the Commission receives an annual honorarium of £5,000. All other Commission appointments are unremunerated, but those serving on the Selection Committee receive an honorarium of £200 per meeting.

Departmental Staff (Disability)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will set out the number of employees in his Department who have a disability, broken down by disability type.

Hilary Benn: As at April 2003, there were 23 members of staff with a disability.
	
		
			 Type of Disability Number of DFID Staff 
		
		
			 Hearing Impairment 8 
			 Visual Impairment (3)— 
			 Speech Impairment (3)— 
			 Mobility Impairment 5 
			 Physical Impairment (3)— 
			 Reduced Physical Capacity (3)— 
			 Severe disfigurement (3)— 
			 Learning difficulties (3)— 
			 Mental Illness 0 
			 Other 0 
			 Total 23 
		
	
	(3)— Denotes a figure where the number of staff is less than five.
	The actual numbers in these categories are not published in order to protect the privacy of individual members of staff.
	At DFID, staff with disabilities can often fall into more than one of the above categories; where this is the case, they have been assigned to the category relating to their primary disability. DFID is a member of the cross-departmental Cabinet Office Disability Working Group, the primary purpose of which is to improve data collection, monitoring and declaration within the Civil Service.

Direct Budget Support

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of fiduciary risk for direct budget support.

Hilary Benn: DFID has developed a comprehensive approach to assessing and managing the fiduciary risks associated with direct budget support, which has been agreed with the UK's National Audit Office.
	Firstly, a thorough evaluation of the recipient government's public financial management and accountability procedures, systems, practices and associated risks must be carried out. We have set out eight good practice principles and 15 related benchmarks which provide a framework both to ensure that adequate and sufficient information is obtained and that a broad assessment can be undertaken.
	Secondly, the recipient government must have a credible programme to improve public financial management and if necessary to incorporate temporary safeguards to mitigate identified risks. The decision to provide direct budget support is made where the potential development benefits justify the risk involved. DFID's policy in this area is clearly identified in the published document "Managing Fiduciary Risk When Providing Budget Support".
	DFID is working with other development agencies and international financial institutions to harmonise approaches to fiduciary risk management, thereby limiting the burden placed on governments to meet the requirements of different donors and lenders. This includes harmonisation of donor assessment procedures.

Iraq

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on humanitarian aid to Iraq.

Hilary Benn: DFID has committed £220 million towards humanitarian and reconstruction work in Iraq since the beginning of 2003. In spite of difficulties resulting from the security situation in Iraq, there is no humanitarian crisis in the country. Significant progress has been made since the end of the conflict in restoring essential services, maintaining the Public Distribution System for food rations, reopening hospitals and schools, and beginning the process of longer term reconstruction.
	US$33 billion in grants and soft loans was pledged for the reconstruction of Iraq at the Madrid Donors' Conference in October, including over US$18 billion from the USA. The Coalition Provisional Authority, together with Iraqi Ministries, are making significant progress with the reconstruction effort.
	DFID will publish its interim Country Assistance Paper for Iraq shortly.

Sudan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact that the Government of Sudan's rezoning of camps for internally displaced persons around Khartoum is having on (a) levels of homelessness and (b) other humanitarian requirements in the region; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID continues to be concerned about the protection and assistance afforded to all internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan and have provided humanitarian assistance, including to those in camps around Khartoum.
	During my visit in December 2003 I visited one of the camps and saw how re-zoning has led to the demolition of homes. I raised the need for proper support for IDPs, following the rezoning with the Government of Sudan. HM Ambassador has also raised this issue with the Government of Sudan, including the Wali (Governor) of Khartoum.

TRANSPORT

Dengie Village Link

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost of public subsidy for the Dengie Village Link is in the (a) current and (b) next financial year.

Tony McNulty: Dengie Village Link service was awarded £271,000 from Rural Bus Challenge funding and £106,274 from the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant for the current financial year 2003–04.
	The recently announced Rural Bus Challenge award will provide £840,000 of funding to the scheme over the next three years 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07. Announcement of the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant for the next financial year has not yet been made.

Dengie Village Link

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers the Dengie Village Link carried in the last 12 month period; and how many passenger miles this represented.

Tony McNulty: The total number of passengers carried by Dengie Village Link during the last 12 months from January 2003 to December 2003 was 72,191.
	Passenger mileage figures are not recorded.

Edinburgh Airport

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of households which will be subjected to (a) a noise level of (i) 63dBa Leq or more and (ii) 69dBa Leq or more and (b) an increase in noise level of 3dBa Leq or more directly as a result of (A) the construction and (B) use of a second runway at Edinburgh airport as outlined in the aviation white paper.

Tony McNulty: This information is set out in the Scottish Consultation Document and supporting technical reports. These estimate the number of people who would be affected by different levels of noise under a range of runway options at Edinburgh Airport including maximum use of the existing main runway, greater use of the existing crosswind runway and development of a new close parallel runway. Our analysis suggests that by 2030, the development of a new close parallel runway, assuming a—14 dBA technology improvement, would reduce the number of people affected within the 63 dBA 16 hour Leq contour by 300 with an increase of 200 people affected at the 69 dBA 16 hour Leq contour.
	The numbers of houses within these contours for a new close parallel runway is estimated to be 200 at 63 dBA and 100 at 69 dBA.

Road Deaths

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many deaths have occurred on the A40 from (a) the M40 to the A312 junction, (b) the A312 junction to the A4005 junction and (c) from the A4005 junction to Westway in the last three years.

Kim Howells: On the A40 from the M40 to the London Boundary there have been seven recorded injury accidents in the 36 month period to 31 December 2003. All accidents were coded as slight.
	The section of the A40 inside London forms part of the Greater London Authority Road Network—now known as the Transport for London Road Network—and is the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). Further information concerning the accident statistics of the road should be obtained from:
	Chris Lines
	Head of London Road Safety Unit
	Transport for London
	Windsor House
	42–50 Victoria Street
	London SW1H OTL

Through Ticketing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on how he intends to encourage through ticketing, particularly where changes in bus contracts for certain routes require a passenger to use different companies for their journey.

Tony McNulty: Local authorities have a power under s135 of the Transport Act 2000 to require local bus operators to provide through ticketing. The Bus Partnership Forum, which I chair, has produced four templates intended for use as model ticketing schemes, including one that provides an example of a through-ticketing scheme involving different companies. We are placing the templates on the Department for Transport's website (under "Local Transport"), and I encourage all local transport authorities and bus operators to take advantage of these resources.
	For services that are operated under contact to the local authority, there is nothing to prevent the authority imposing conditions as to ticket validity on those services.

Transport (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the figures for (a) reliability, (b) punctuality, (c) the public performance measure, and (d) complaints for each train operator operating services in Wales in the last year for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) measures train performance by the Public Performance Measure (PPM), which combines reliability and punctuality. It is published by train operator in the SRA's quarterly National Rail Trends (NRT). The latest publication covers performance to the year ending 30 September 2003 and is placed in the Library of the House.
	Until March 2003, complaints data by train operator were published in the SRA's six monthly On Track publication. Copies of On Track are placed in the Library of the House. In future, complaints data by train operator will appear annually in Quarter 4 of NRT which will also act as an annual compendium of statistics. This will be published in the summer.

Transport (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the rail infrastructure improvement schemes and their projected cost (a) being carried out in Wales and (b) planned for Wales.

Tony McNulty: There are no infrastructure improvement schemes currently in progress. The Vale of Glamorgan line is planned to re-open between Barry and Bridgend later this year, with two new stations to be built at Llanwit Major and Rhoose. This scheme is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Transport (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on aviation in Wales since the publication of the Aviation White Paper.

Tony McNulty: Since the publication of the White Paper we have received one representation requesting further information about its conclusions for Wales.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Employment

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what budget has been allocated for the enforcement of employment law in agriculture during the period covering the last two financial years; and how many enforcement officers are dedicated to investigating breaches of employment law in agriculture.

Alun Michael: The only employment law enforced by Defra is the Agricultural Wages Order made by the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales under the Agricultural Wages Act 1948. Initial enforcement is undertaken by the five members of Defra's Agricultural Wages Team at an annual cost of some £133,000. This process is complaint led and complaints are investigated by Agricultural Wages Inspectors based in the Department's Rural Payments Agency. Some 37 Rural Payments Agency staff are authorised to investigate agricultural wage complaints. In the 2002–03 financial year it is estimated that agricultural minimum wage investigations undertaken by the Rural Payments Agency utilised staff resources of just over 0.5 staff years at a cost of £12,000. Rural Payments Agency staff inputs between April and December 2003 totalled some 0.25 staff years at a cost of £6,000.

Avian Influenza

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what records her Department keeps of outbreaks of avian influenza among (a) poultry flocks, (b) poultry meat processors and (c) egg processors in EU member states in the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 January 2004
	Our records show the following outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in member states in the last five years. These have all been in poultry flocks:
	Italy—1997 until April 2000;
	Netherlands—March to May 2003;
	Belgium—April 2003; and
	Germany—May 2003.

Avian Influenza

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what biosecurity measures the Government have in place to protect (a) poultry farmers and (b) consumers from (i) legal and (ii) illegal (A) poultry meat and (B) egg imports from countries in South East Asia which have reported an outbreak of avian influenza.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 January 2004
	Defra issued advice on biosecurity and on health and safety to the farming industry on 5 November 2003. In view of the avian influenza situation, we are writing to all known poultry keepers and to veterinary surgeons to highlight the problem and to reissue the advice.
	There is no legal trade in poultry meat or eggs from South East Asian countries affected by avian influenza other than from Thailand. Prohibitions have been placed on imports from Thailand of meat, meat products and meat preparations from species susceptible to avian influenza.
	HM Customs and Excise are responsible for measures to detect and prevent illegal imports into Great Britain of prohibited animal products They have put in place measures to address the possibility of illegally imported products. This included notification to all Customs staff of the new controls prohibiting imports from Thailand and ensuring controls are in place to prevent any trade imports in accordance with the EU Council Directive.
	The Food Standards Agency advice is that eating chicken and eggs is not considered a risk to consumers. This is because the risk to people arises from close contact with live chickens that have the disease, and not through eating chicken or eggs.

Badgers

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 522W, on badgers, whether the reference to the gassing of badgers being considered to be inhumane refers only to the use of hydrogen cyanide gas; and what gases are available for use for the slaughter of subterranean animals which have properties that do not engender distress in those animals.

Ben Bradshaw: In his 1980 report, "Badgers, Cattle and Tuberculosis", Lord Zuckerman considered gassing as a method of capture. Having consulted the Government Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down, he recorded that:
	"the only likely chemical alternatives to cyanide are carbon monoxide and nerve gases. The latter, however, are too dangerous to handle, and the former is, weight for weight, significantly less toxic than cyanide, and therefore likely to prove less effective than cyanide in practice."
	He recommended that work be carried out to devise improvements in gassing procedures and this work concentrated on hydrogen cyanide. The Krebs Report points out that the subsequent investigation:
	". . . cast doubt on the humaneness of this method of killing because research showed that badgers did not die immediately underground."
	The following pesticides are currently approved for the control of subterranean animals:
	Cymag, containing sodium cyanide, which generates cyanide gas for rat and rabbit control; and
	Luxan Talunex, and Phostoxin, both of which contain aluminium phosphide and generate phosphine gas for the control of moles, rats and rabbits.
	These pesticides are approved on the basis that they are safe, effective, and do not cause unnecessary pain and suffering to the target animal.

Bottom Trawl Survey

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) standard trawl speed and (b) type of trawl gear is used by her Department's survey vessels in carrying out the International Bottom Trawl Survey in the North Sea.

Ben Bradshaw: The trawl used for scientific surveys of bottom living fish in the North Sea is the GOV trawl ('Grande Ouverture Verticale'). This general purpose bottom trawl has a high headline of five to six metres, and is used where the target species are a mix of commercial whitefish such as cod, haddock, whiting, pout and saithe. The net also samples shoaling or pelagic species including herring and mackerel. Design, specification and operation of the GOV trawl are all agreed internationally and co-ordinated by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. The standard towing speed is four knots over the sea bed.

Bottom Trawl Survey

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the survey vessels employed in carrying out the International Bottom Trawl Survey are (a) stern trawlers and (b) side trawlers.

Ben Bradshaw: They are stern trawlers.

Bottom Trawl Survey

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the gear used by survey vessels carrying out the International Bottom Trawl Survey in the North Sea differs from the gear used by commercial trawlers in the same area.

Ben Bradshaw: Yes. Commercial gear is rigged by individual skippers to suit local conditions and to maximise the catch of target species. It is regularly modified to follow the changes in the technical conservation legislation, and is frequently adjusted to improve catchability. Survey gear is chosen to fish both a wide range of species and a wide range of sizes including juvenile fish. It is maintained and operated to an internationally agreed specification without modification over time, so that the results of different national surveys can be combined. True comparisons can thus be made from year to year unaffected by technical changes.

Bovine TB

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle were slaughtered on average each year during (a) 1976 to 1982, (b) 1982 to 1988, (c) 1988 to 1997 and (d) 2003 because of TB, including reactors, dangerous contacts and IRs; and what percentage this represented of the national herd in each case.

Ben Bradshaw: The data requested up to and including 1997 are provided in the table:
	
		
			 Period Average number of GB cattle slaughtered per year(4) Percentage of GB national herd 
		
		
			 1976–82 955 0.01 
			 1982–88 786 0.01 
			 1988–97 2,215 0.02 
		
	
	(4) TB reactors plus contacts.
	Source:
	Animal Health—Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer 1976–97.
	Provisional data indicate that 21,632 cattle 1 were slaughtered in Great Britain between 1 January and 30 November 2003. This equates to 0.24 per cent. of the national herd.
	1 TB reactors plus contacts. Provisional data downloaded from the State Veterinary Service database on 22 December 2003. Subject to change as more data become available.

EU Legislation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the EU legislation her Department has had responsibility for implementing since its inception; and what the (a) EU deadline for implementation and (b) date of final United Kingdom implementation were in each case.

Alun Michael: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs plays a leading role in the UK's EU policy on the environment, agriculture, fisheries, animal and plant health. Between 8 June 2001 and 31 December 2003, 89 EU Directives, for which Defra has responsibility for implementation, were adopted.
	The table lists the directives adopted together with:
	(a) the EU deadline for transposition into domestic legislation.
	(b) where, appropriate, the final United Kingdom transposition date.
	Details of all Directives in force can be found on the Eur-Lex database available on the European Union's website.
	
		
			 Directive number Directive name Transposition date Date UK transposition completed 
		
		
			 2001/047/EC Placing plant protection products on the market 31 December 2001 25 February 2002 
			 2001/048/EC Fixing maximum levels of pesticide residues 28 February 02 25 February 2002 
			 2001/049/EC Placing plant protection products on the market 31 December 2001 25 February 2002 
			 2001/057/EC Fixing maximum levels of pesticide residues 28 February 2002 25 February 2002 
			 2001/064/EC Marketing of fodder plant seed and cereal seed 31 August 2001 5 March 2003 
			 2001/080/EC Limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants 27 November 2002 9 September 2003 
			 2001/081/EC National emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants 1 March 2002 10 January 2003 
			 2001/082/EC Community code relating to veterinary medicine products 27 November 2002 31 March 2003 
			 2001/087/EC Placing of plant protection products on the market to include acibenzolar-s-methyl cyclanilide, ferric phosphate, pymetrozine and pyraflufen-ethyl as active substances 31 March 2002 4 April 2002 
			 2001/088/EC Laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs 1 January 2003 23 October 2003 
			 2001/089/EC Community measures for the control of classical swine fever 31 October 2002 6 October 2003 
			 2001/091/EC Restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (hexachloroethane) 31 December 2002 30 June 2003 
			 2001/093/EC Laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs 1 January 2003 23 October 2003 
			 2001/099/EC Amending Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market to include glyphosate and thifensulfuron-methyl as active substances 1 January 2003 22 October 2002 
			 2001/103/EC Amending Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market to include 2.4 dichloroohenoxv acetic acid(2.4-D) as an active substance 1 April 2003 22 October 2002 
			 2001/109/EC Statistical surveys to be carried out by member states to determine potential of certain species of fruit trees 16 April 2002 15 May 2002 
			 2002/003/EC Relating to ozone in ambient air 9 September 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2002/004/EC Registration of establishments keeping laying hens 31 March 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2002/005/EC Amending Annex II to Council Directive 90/642/EEC as regards the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables 31 August 2002 1 September 2002 
			 2002/008/EC Minimum conditions for examining vegetables and agricultural varieties 31 March 2002 12 April 2002 
			 2002/018/EC Amending Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market to include isoproturon as an active substance 30 June 2003 22 October 2002 
			 2002/023/EC Fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on cereals, foodstuffs of animal origin and certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables respectively 31 August 2002 19 September 2002 
			 2002/028/EC Protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the community 31 March 2002 24 September 2002 
			 2002/029/EC Amending Directive 2001/32/EC as regards certain protected zones exposed to particular plant health risks in the community 31 March 2002 24 September 2002 
			 2002/031/EC Energy labelling of household air conditioners 1 January 2003 14 March 2003 
			 2002/033/EC Amending Directives 90/425/EEC and 92/118/EEC as regards health requirements for animal by-products 30 April 2003 30 June 2003 
			 2002/036/EC On protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community 1 April 2003 12 November 2003 
			 2002/037/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include ethofumesate as an active substance 31 August 2003 6 March 2003 
			 2002/040/EC Commission Directive 2002/040/EC implementing Council Directive 92/75/EEC with regard to energy labelling of household electric ovens 31 December 2002 14 March 2003 
			 2002/042/EC Fixing maximum levels of pesticide residues 31 December 2002 11 April 2003 
			 2002/045/EC Relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (short-chain chlorinated paraffins) 6 July 2003 23 December 2003 
			 2002/048/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include iprovalicarb, prosulfuron and sulfosulfuron as active substances 31 December 2002 6 March 2003 
			 2002/053/EC On the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (codified version) n/a n/a 
			 2002/054/EC On the marketing of beet seed (codified version) n/a n/a 
			 2002/055/EC On the marketing of vegetable seed (codified version) n/a n/a 
			 2002/056/EC On the marketing of seed potatoes (codified version) n/a n/a  
			 2002/057/EC On the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants (codified version) n/a n/a 
			 2002/960/EC Laying down specific provisions for the control of African swine fever 30 June 2003 13 December 2003 
			 2002/062/EC Adapting to technical progress for the ninth time Annex I to Council Directive 76/769/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States on marketing and use of (organostannic compounds) 31 October 2002 14 March 2003 
			 2002/063/EC Establishing community methods of sampling for the official control of pesticides residues in and on products of the plant and animal origin and repealing Directive 79/700/EEC 1 January 2003 7 April 2003 
			 2002/064/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include cinidon-ethyl, cyhalofop butyl, famoxadone, florasulam, metalaxyl-M and picolinafen as active substances 31 March 2003 7 April 2003 
			 2002/066/EC Amending the Annexes to Directive 76/895/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards the fixing of maximum levels for pesticides residues in and on fruit and vegetables 30 November 2002 11 April 2003 
			 2002/068/EC On the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants 30 June 2003 12 November 2003 
			 2002/071/EC Amending the Annexes to Directive 76/895/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards the fixing of maximum levels for pesticides residues (formothion, dimethoate and oxydemeton-methyl) 31 December 2002 11 April 2003 
			 2002/076/EC Fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues (metsulfuron methyl) in and on cereals and certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables 31 December 2002 13 March 2003 
			 2002/079/EC Amending the Annexes to Council Directives 76/895/EEC, 86/362/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards fixing of maximum levels for certain pesticides residues 31 December 2002 15 April 2003 
			 2002/081/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include flumioxazine as an active substance (Plant Protection Products)– 30 June 2003 7 April 2003 
			 2002/089/EC On protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community 1 January 2005 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2002/097/EC Amending the Annexes to Council Directives 86/362/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in cereals and foodstuffs in products of animal and plant origin 30 June 2003 15 April 2003 
			 2002/099/EC Laying down the animal health rules governing the production, processing, distribution and introduction of products of animal origin for human consumption 1 April 2005 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2002/100/EC Fixing of maximum residue levels for azoxystrobin 31 March 2003 15 April 2003 
			 2003/002/EC Relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of arsenic 30 June 2003 23 December 2003 
			 2003/005/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include deltamethrin as active substance 30 April 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/011/EC Relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (pentabromodiphenyl ether octabromodiphenyl ether) 15 February 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/021/EC As regards certain protected zones exposed to particular plant health risks in the Community 31 March 2003 12 November 2003 
			 2003/022/EC On protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community 31 March 2003 12 November 2003 
			 2003/023/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include imazamox, oxasulfuron, ethoxysulfuron, foramsulfuron, oxadiargyl and cyazofamid as active substances 31 December 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/031 EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include 2,4-DB, betacyfluthrin, cyfluthrin, iprodione, linuron, maleic hydrazide and pendimethalin as active substances 30 June 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/035/EC Providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment 25 June 2005 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/039/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include propireb and propyzamide as active substances 30 September 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/043/EC Laying down the animal health requirements applicable to intra-Community trade in and imports of semen of domestic animals of the bovine species 1 July 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/045/EC On the marketing and use of seed of oil and fibre plants 31 December 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/046/EC As regards certain protected zones exposed to particular plant health risks in the Community 15 June 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/047/EC On protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community 15 June 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/050/EC Reinforcement of controls on movements of ovine and caprine animals 1 July 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/053/EC Relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (nonylphenol, nonylphenol ethoxylate and cement) 17 July 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/060/EC Fixing maximum levels for certain pesticide residues in and on cereals, foodstuffs of animal origin and certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables 30 June 2003 14 November 2003 
			 2003/061/EC Amending various Directives as regards Community comparative tests and trials 10 October 2003 Not to be implementedin member states 
			 2003/062/EC Maximum pesticide residue levels for hexaconazole, clofentezine, myclobutanyl and prochloraz 31 July 2003 14 November 2003 
			 2003/066/EC Energy labelling of household electric refrigerators, freezers and their combinations 30 June 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/068/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include trifloxystrobin, carfentrazone-ethyl, meso-trone, fenamidone and isoxaflutole as active substances 31 March 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/069/EC Maximum residue levels for chlormequat, lambda-cyhalothrin, kresoxim-methyl, azoxystrobin and certain dithiocarbamates 31 July 2003 14 November 2003 
			 2003/070/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include mecoprop, mecoprop-P and propiconazole as active substances 30 November 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/074/EC Concerning the prohibition on the use in stock farming of certain substances having a hormonal or thyrostatic action and of beta-agonists 14 October 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/079/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include Coniothyrium minitrans as an active substance 30 June 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/081/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include molinate, thiram and ziram as active substances 31 January 2005 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/082/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC as regards standard phrases for special risks and safety precautions for plant protection products 30 July 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/084/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include flurtamane, flufenacet, iodosulfuron, dimethenamide-p, picoxystrobin, frosthiazate-silthiofam as active substances 30 June 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/085/EC Community measures for the control of foot-and-mouth disease 30 June 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/087/EC Establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community 31 December 2003 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/090/EC As regards the characteristics to be covered as a minimum by the examination and the minimum conditions for examining certain varieties of agricultural plant species 31 March 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/091/EC As regards the characteristics to be covered as a minimum by the examination and the minimum conditions for examining certain varieties of vegetable species 31 March 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/099/EC On the monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents 12 April 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/111/EC Amending Annex II to Council Directive 92/34/EEC on the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and fruit plants intended for fruit production 31 October 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/112/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include paraquat as an active substance 30 April 2005 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/113/EC Amending Annexes to Council Directives 86/362/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards the fixing of maximum levels for certain pesticide residues in and on cereals, foodstuffs of animal origin and certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables 1 June 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/116/EC Amending Annexes II, III, IV and V to Council Directive 2000/29/EC as regards the harmful organism "Erwinia amylovora (Burr.) Winsl. Et al" 31 March 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/118/EC Amending Annexes to Council Directives 76/895/EEC, 86/362/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards maximum residue levels for acephate, 2,4-D and parathion-methyl 30 November 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed 
			 2003/119/EC Amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include mesosulfron, propoxycarbazone and zoxamide as active substances 30 September 2004 Full UK implementationnot completed

Farm Incomes

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average income of (a) arable, (b) beef, (c) dairy, (d) poultry, (e) pig, (f) sheep and (g) mixed farmers was in Lancashire in the latest year for which figures are available.

Alun Michael: The average net farm income for farms greater than eight ESUs in the county of Lancashire was £20,450 for the year ending February 2003. Due to lack of farm numbers in the source survey this can only be broken down into the following farm types:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Cattle and Sheep in the LFA 15,530 
			 Dairy Farms 16,730 
			 All other farm types 26,260 
		
	
	Data source
	Farm Business Survey
	Net farm income is defined as the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and on the tenant-type capital of the business. It includes income from non-agricultural activities that are fully integrated into the farming business and which depend on the existence of the core farming activity.

Farming Subsidies

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in the United Kingdom received subsidies with a value of (a) Euro 0 to Euro 5,000, (b) Euro 5,000 to Euro 50,000 and (c) more than Euro 50,000 in (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2001–02, (iii) 2000–01 and (iv) 1999–2000.

Alun Michael: The following figures represent payments made in the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Year (16 October to 15 October).
	Payments on our financial systems are in Sterling. To generate the ranges in Euros the bands have been converted into sterling based on an average conversion rate for each EAGGF year.
	These figures represent payments to English farmers. Information for other countries within the UK is a matter for their respective devolved assemblies.
	
		
			 EAGGF Year Euro 0 to Euro 5,000 Euro 5,000 to Euro 50,000 Greater than Euro 50,000 
		
		
			 2002–03 88,398 39,823 4,936 
			 2001–02 98,351 37,855 4,330 
			 2000–01 97,182 39,169 4,962 
			 1999–2000 92,220 38,030 4,062

Fisheries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proceedings have been brought against shore-side dealers who handle black fish in each of the last 10 years.

Ben Bradshaw: Under the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 2000 (SI 2000 No. 51) proceedings for the submission of false documentation, associated with the handling of black fish, may be taken against the representative (agent) of the master in respect of landing declarations, against the first seller of fish in respect of sales notes or the buyer of fish where the first marketing is not carried out by an auction centre or an authorised person or body and against the transporter of fish in respect of the transport documentation. There is a maximum of up to £50,000 for each offence committed on summary conviction.

Flooding

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when the Environment Agency will publish maps showing the climate change zone in relation to the one in 100 year floodplain;
	(2)  when the Environment Agency will publish policies on the incorporation of climate change calculation into the determination of floodplain.

Margaret Beckett: The Environment Agency's Flood Mapping Strategy of July 2003 outlines 2005 as the earliest date for delivery of the 'Flood Zones for year 2050' onto the National Flood and Coastal Defence Database. 'Flood Zones for year 2050' is a dataset to show planners the anticipated extent of a range of flood probabilities (including, for fluvial flooding, a zone showing the one per cent. or one in 100 year probability) in the year 2050, taking account of current guidance on climate change.
	The Environment Agency follows government policies and guidance for climate change; for floodplain, this is found in PPG25. The 'Flood Zones for year 2050' will incorporate the climate change guidance found in Appendix A of PPG25, namely an allowance for sea level rise and an increase in fluvial flows of 20 per cent.

Flooding

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the results of the work commissioned by the Environment Agency to model the impact of a one in 100 year plus 20 per cent. flood on the River Thames will be available.

Margaret Beckett: I understand that the Environment Agency expect the final results from modelling the impact of various floods on the River Thames, including the one in 100 year plus 20 per cent. will be available by summer 2004.

Haddock

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps have been taken to encourage a consumer shift from cod to haddock; and what assessment she has made of the impact on the British fleet of such a shift;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of whether haddock is an acceptable retail alternative to cod;
	(3)  what plans she has to offer marketing assistance to fish wholesalers and retailers to encourage increased consumption of haddock by British consumers.

Ben Bradshaw: Decisions on which species of fish to buy are for consumers to take. However the Sea Fish Industry Authority undertakes work to promote seafood consumption, and, with Seafood Scotland, is beginning a consumer campaign for marketing haddock.

Hill Farmers

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average income was for a hill farmer in Shrewsbury and Atcham in the last year.

Alun Michael: Estimates of farm business income are obtainable from the Farm Business Survey, but results are not available at constituency level because the size of the sample is too small.
	Net farm income for full-time farms either wholly or mainly in the less favoured areas in the West Midlands Government Office Region in 2002–03, excluding farms involved in the compulsory FMD cull, was £12,000 per farm. This compares with a net farm income of £13,200 for the West Midlands Government Office Region as a whole and £16,600 for England.
	Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and on the tenant-type capital of the business.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been initiated and are pending, by or on behalf of her Department against (a) contractors and (b) farmers, in respect of alleged fraudulent claims or other irregularities relating to (i) claims made for compensation, (ii) works undertaken on behalf of her Department, and (iii) animals slaughtered; how many court hearings have been completed; and how many of the prosecutions have been successful.

Ben Bradshaw: Since 2001, no prosecutions have been commenced in relation to fraudulent claims by contractors for compensation or works undertaken on behalf of the Department. Three prosecutions were commenced into fraudulent claims for compensation by farmers: one farmer pleaded guilty, two farmers were acquitted. There are no outstanding prosecutions.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what value of payments remain unpaid to Welsh contractors employed during and following the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter), on 6 January, Official Report, column 261W.
	The Department is in dispute with four Welsh contractors over charges arising, or which are claimed to have arisen, from the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak. As these matters are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what value of compensation payments remain unpaid to Welsh farmers as a result of the foot and mouth disease outbreak, broken down by (a) constituency and (b) local authority area.

Ben Bradshaw: There are no compensation payments due to Welsh farmers that remain unpaid as a result of the foot and mouth outbreak.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many compensation payments, of what value, have been paid to Welsh farmers as a result of the foot and mouth disease outbreak, broken down by (a) constituency and (b) local authority area.

Ben Bradshaw: We cannot provide a breakdown of compensation payments by either constituency or local authority area. The compensation payments data is not held in that form.
	However, we can provide the following breakdown of compensation payments made to Welsh farmers by county.
	
		Payments -- £
		
			 County Number Total Amount 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Powys 991 41,470,929 
			 Gwent 211 10,517,681 
			 Mid Glamorgan 54 775,061 
			 Clwyd 25 508,428 
			 West Glamorgan 14 971,654 
			 Dyfed 12 377,399 
			 South Glamorgan 2 253,318 
			 Totals 1,309 54,874,470

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the criteria are for interest payments to be made by her Department on outstanding foot and mouth disease claims; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The criteria will vary on a case by case basis and will depend on such things as the precise contractual terms providing for interest; the construction of the contract; the terms and applicability of The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998; and the validity and timeliness or otherwise of the applications for payment received.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many outstanding claims for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts remain to be processed by her Department; and what estimate has been made of the total liability.

Ben Bradshaw: As the Department has paid businesses on the basis of the contractual terms agreed it does not believe there are any valid unpaid and outstanding invoices submitted by businesses to the Department for work undertaken in connection with the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.
	The Department is withholding £52.9 million from businesses in connection with charges arising from the provision of goods, services and works during the outbreak. In these cases, it believes on the basis of the quantum, accounting, technical and legal advice it has received that it was overcharged for goods, services and works during the outbreak. In all other cases, the Department has paid businesses for the goods, services and works provided in connection with the outbreak in 2001.
	As at 29 January 2004 the Department is in serious dispute with 22 contractors and five of these disputes are currently in the civil courts, with more expected to follow.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money has been spent (a) internally and (b) on outside assistance on the disputing and forensic analysis of invoices submitted by Northumberland and Durham Machinery Ring Ltd for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has spent (a) £2,480 internally and (b) £336,357 excluding VAT externally on professional services in connection with the forensic examination of the Northumberland and Durham Machinery Ring account pertaining to the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.
	This expenditure excludes the costs of the successful mediation on 20 January, which are the subject of standard confidentiality provisions agreed between the parties.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements have been made by her Department with organisations or persons rewarded by payment of commission, percentage or other means for securing reductions in invoices submitted by contractors for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts.

Ben Bradshaw: No such arrangements have been made.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many invoices submitted for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts have been paid in full by her Department without negotiation or dispute as to quantum.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter) on 6 January 2004, Official Report, columns 260–62W. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost, as it would require a review of all applications for payment submitted over four financial years in connection with the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of the claims made for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts which have been settled by her Department have been settled within the allocated time period.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter) on 6 January 2004, Official Report, columns 260–62W.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims made for foot and mouth disease contracts submitted to her Department have been settled to date.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter) on 6 January 2004, Official Report, columns 260–62W.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts have yet to be settled by her Department.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department is withholding £52.9 million from businesses in connection with charges arising from the provision of goods, services and works during the outbreak. In these cases, it believes on the basis of the quantum, accounting, technical and legal advice it has received that it was overcharged for goods, services and works during the outbreak. In all other cases, the Department has paid businesses for the goods, services and works provided in connection with the outbreak in 2001.
	As at 29 January 2004 the Department is in serious dispute with 22 contractors and five of these disputes are currently in the civil courts, with more expected to follow.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts have been submitted to her Department since the outbreak of the disease.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department considers it has received 30 claims for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts since the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money has been spent (a) internally and (b) on outside assistance on the disputing and forensic analysis of invoices submitted by businesses for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter), on 6 January 2004, Official Report, column 259W.
	Internal costs total £430,000 to date.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much interest has been paid by her Department on outstanding claims for foot and mouth disease contracts; what estimate has been made of likely outstanding payments; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Brian Cotter), on 6 January 2004, Official Report, columns 259–60W.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of the claims made for foot and mouth disease clean-up contracts which have been settled by her Department with (a) companies and (b) individuals based in Somerset were settled within the allocated time period.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare (Brian Cotter), on 6 January 2004, Official Report, column 261W.
	The Department is in dispute with one contractor in Somerset over charges arising, or which are claimed to have arisen, from the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak. As this matter is on-going, it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Trawl Speeds

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what influence trawl speed has on (a) species caught and (b) size of fish caught.

Ben Bradshaw: Trawl speed can influence the capture of different species, with faster swimmers requiring a faster towing speed, and the duration of tow may affect the size of fish caught, since larger fish may be able to swim for longer before they tire and fall back into the net.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Specialist Sports Colleges

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on specialist sports colleges in (a) England and (b) the Pudsey constituency.

Richard Caborn: There are currently 228 specialist sports colleges in England, and a further 30 will join them from September 2004. The Government aims to establish 400 specialist sports colleges by September 2005, subject to sufficient high quality applications. Within Pudsey, Priesthorpe Secondary School became a specialist sports college in 2002.

Glasgow Science Centre

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the level of financial assistance provided by the Government to Millennium projects in Scotland, with particular reference to the Glasgow Science Centre.

Richard Caborn: The Millennium Commission, rather than the Government, has provided £209 million of National Lottery funding for Millennium projects in Scotland. £36.2 million has been awarded to the Glasgow Science Centre. The Glasgow Science Centre as also been funded by public bodies under the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for Science Centre policy within Scotland.

Licensing Act

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received from sports clubs about the impact of the Licensing Act 2003.

Richard Caborn: We have received representations from several hon. Members, the Central Council for Physical Recreation, small sports clubs and from individual members of small sports clubs. These representations relate mainly to the issue of the fee levels which we intend to set shortly for small sports clubs under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

Arts Facilities

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent studies her Department has conducted on the economic benefits to local communities of investment in arts facilities.

Estelle Morris: My Department has commissioned a review of the evidence of the economic, social and environmental impact of culture in regeneration. The findings will be published shortly, alongside a document consulting on proposals for maximising culture's impact on communities.

Community Fund/New Opportunities Fund

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in merging the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund.

Estelle Morris: The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and the Community Fund are working closely together already. A single Chief Executive has been appointed. Full merger will happen when the legislation is in place.

Playing Fields

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the sale of playing fields.

Richard Caborn: Planning guidance ensures that local authorities must fully consider the sporting needs of communities in decisions involving playing fields.
	But community need may better be addressed by developing other forms of sports facility. Planning applications involving playing fields in 2001–02 produced 447 new or refurbished sports facilities worth £274 million.

Olympic Bid

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on the London Olympics bid.

Tessa Jowell: The first stage of the bid, the Applicant Questionnaire, was delivered to the International Olympic Committee on 15 January.
	The Government continues to work closely with the other stakeholders to develop the outline proposals in the Questionnaire.

Science and Technology

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department is giving to the promotion of science and technology via museums.

Estelle Morris: We have increased revenue grant-in-aid to our sponsored science and technology museums by 23 per cent. in real terms to over £70 million per annum since 1997–98, including funding for free admission to their permanent collections. The number of visits to these museums has increased by 73 per cent. to 7.6 million.

TREASURY

Labour Disputes

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average cost of working days lost owing to labour disputes in the (a) public and (b) private sector in each year between 1995 and 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 2 February 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the estimate of the average yearly cost of working days lost owing to labour disputes in the private and public sector each year since 1995. (151832)
	The Office for National Statistics produces figures on the number of working days lost as a result of labour disputes, but does not estimate the cost of these lost days.
	Whilst there are no statistics on numbers of working days lost that specifically relate to the public sector, figures are available for the public administration, education and health industries sectors which encompass most of the public sector. In the table below, the data for these sectors (Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) sectors 75, 80 and 85) are presented alongside data for the rest of the economy for 1995 to 2002, the last year for which annual data are available.
	
		Working days lost due to UK labour disputes, 1995–2002 -- thousands
		
			  Public administration, education and health industries (SIC 75, 80, 85) Rest of Economy 
			 Year No of days lost Percentage of all days lost No of days lost Percentage ofall days lost 
		
		
			 1995 178 43 237 57 
			 1996 295 23 1,008 77 
			 1997 65 28 170 72 
			 1998 50 18 232 82 
			 1999 66 27 176 73 
			 2000 221 44 278 56 
			 2001 331 63 194 37 
			 2002 1,013 77 310 23

Area Cost Adjustment (Statistics)

Peter Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the Office for National Statistics does not release (a) New Earnings Survey micro-data since 2000, (b) details of the sensitivity of regression results, (c) alternative estimates using Labour Force Survey data and (d) disaggregated Labour Force Survey data to researchers investigating area cost adjustment calculations; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Peter Luff, dated 2 February 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the availability of data to researchers. (151128)
	Since 2002 the Office for National Statistics Micro-data Release Panel has implemented revisions to procedures for releasing all micro-data held by ONS. The procedures are derived from the principles of National Statistics, its Code of Practice and protocols, and the law.
	New Earnings Survey (NES) micro-data up to 2003, the latest year for which data are available, have been released to other government departments. NES micro-data are available for statistical research purposes through the ONS "virtual data-lab", which provides access to micro-datasets on ONS premises under controlled access conditions, in line with the Code of Practice and protocols. A longitudinal NES dataset used by some academic and government researchers was suspended from 2001 when I initiated a review of the access contracts and methods. Work is now underway to make this dataset available through the virtual data-lab, under different contractual arrangements and methods consistent with the Code of Practice.
	Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates of employees' earnings by region, occupation and industry are published in the LFS Quarterly Supplement which is available on the ONS web-site: www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=545&More=N. Anonymised copies of all LFS micro datasets are available to researchers from the UK Data Archive (UKDA). Information about this service is available from the UKDA web-site: www.data-archive.ac.uk. Access requests by government and academic researchers to confidential (non-anonymised) copies of LFS micro-data are considered on a case-by-case basis by the Micro-data Release Panel.
	Any research studies carried out by ONS using regression analysis of either NES or LFS earnings data would usually be published if of significance, and of publishable standard. No specific work on the sensitivity of regression results exists for publication, or has been prepared for other reasons. In general, micro-data access is a well recognised statistical service, and all researchers have access to more statistical records than in most countries in Europe.

Block Grant (Scotland)

Brian Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of the block grant allocation to the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Executive in each of the last 10 years; and what the projected figure is for the next two years in (a) cash and (b) constant terms.

Paul Boateng: Information on the block grant from the Scotland Office to the Scottish Executive and the Scotland Office's own spending is contained in the Scotland Office's Estimates and the Scotland Office Departmental Report (Cm 5927), and prior to devolution in the Scottish Office's Estimates. Information on the Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limit for the period 1998–99 to 2005–06 is contained in table 1.2 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses in nominal terms and in table 1.4 in real terms.

Central Government Spending

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the loss to public funds was of gross administrative expenditure in central Government for (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2003–04.[R]

Gordon Brown: holding answer 5 January 2004
	I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to him on 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 448W.

Customs and Excise

Adrian Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the last occasion was that a British citizen was charged under (a) section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 and (b) section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; and what resulted from these charges.

John Healey: Section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 imposes a prohibition on the import of indecent and obscene articles. Section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 creates the criminal offence of contravening this prohibition. The last occasion on which Customs charged a British Citizen under this legislation was 31 January 2003. This person was sentenced on 12 March 2003 to a three-year Community Rehabilitation Order and ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.
	Since April 2003 Customs and Excise have refocused their strategy for detections of such material at import, placing greater emphasis on working more closely with other agencies, including the passing of intelligence to the police for further investigation and prosecution as appropriate.

ECOFIN

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 20 January; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I attended ECOFIN on 20 January.
	The Irish Presidency presented its work programme. The focus of the first three months would be on the Lisbon economic reform agenda and enlargement for the final three months. I stressed the importance of the Lisbon Agenda, the need for ECOFIN Ministers to be fully engaged in the forthcoming debate on future financing of the EU and the importance of re-invigorating the EU/US economic relationship.
	The Council agreed opinions on the updated Stability and Convergence programmes for Denmark, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
	The Council discussed the Report of the Employment Task Force (Kok Report) on the basis of a note prepared by the Economic Policy Committee. The report set out that the EU was likely to miss the 2005 and 2010 Lisbon employment targets without immediate implementation of labour market reforms. I welcomed the report and its recommendations and stressed the onus was now on member states to demonstrate the political will to reform. The Presidency agreed concluding that follow-up to the Kok report was a priority for the spring Council.
	Following a French request, the Council again briefly discussed VAT reduced rates. There was no consensus and the Presidency concluded that the item would return to a future ECOFIN. The Council also discussed a French paper on raising minimum rates on tobacco tax. The Commission and Presidency agreed there was little prospect of agreeing further harmonisation of rates.
	The Commission reported to the Council on discussions with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on proposed revisions to International Accounting Standards 32 and 39, relating to accounting for financial instruments. The Presidency welcomed the setting up of a High Level Group under IASB chairmanship to help find agreement on the outstanding issues.
	The location of the three Lamfalussy Committees of banking, insurance and securities supervisors was agreed at lunch. The Banking Committee will be located in London, the Insurance Committee in Frankfurt and the Securities Committee will remain in Paris.
	No votes were taken at the meeting.

Gold Receipts

Peter Viggers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been received from the sale of gold since 7 May 1999; how the receipts have been reinvested; and what the current market value of those reinvestments is.

Ruth Kelly: The proceeds from the sale of part of the United Kingdom's gold holdings between 6 July 1999 and 6 March 2002 totalled approximately $3.5 billion. These proceeds were invested in interest-bearing foreign currency assets in broadly the same proportion as currently held in the net foreign currency reserves (40 per cent. dollars; 40 per cent. euros; 20 per cent. yen). The gold sales reduced risk by around 30 per cent. (as measured by value-at-risk) and are not expected to deliver a loss in return when measured over the medium to long-term, the appropriate time horizon for such a decision.
	The United Kingdom has been at the forefront internationally in promoting openness and transparency in reserves data. Details, including currency composition, are available from the Bank of England's website: www.bankofenqland.co.uk. The investment policy for the reserves is also outlined in the Exchange Equalisation Account Financial Accounts, most recently published on 1 December 2003 for financial year 2002–03. We do not provide market-sensitive information, however, about individual assets within the reserves portfolio.

Iraq

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of United Kingdom military operations in Iraq.

Paul Boateng: Of the £3 billion set aside by the Chancellor in last year's Budget to cover the cost of operations in Iraq, £1 billion was drawn down in the spring Supplementary Estimate for 2002–03. The remaining £2 billion of this special reserve has been carried forward to 2003–04.
	In the recent PBR the Chancellor announced a further £500 million set aside for this financial year and a further £300 million for 2004–05 as a prudent allowance to cover Iraq and our continuing international commitment to the war on terrorism.

Public Service Agreements

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on value for money in public service agreements relating to the environment.

Paul Boateng: The latest Public Service Agreement (PSA) for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was published in "2002 Spending Review—Public Service Agreements 2003–2006" (Cm 5571). DEFRA's PSA included a value for money target, focusing on a reduction in the unit cost of administering Common Agricultural Policy payments, and an increase in electronic service delivery capability. DEFRA published a report of performance against this target in its Autumn Performance Report in November 2003 (Cm 6017), and will update this further in the departmental report later this spring.

Tax Stamp Regimes

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with (a) countries which have abolished tax stamp regimes for whisky and other spirits, (b) countries which, after consideration, decided against introducing tax stamps and (c) countries which have tax stamps regimes; and what the outcome of those discussions was.

John Healey: Officials are in regular discussions with other countries on these matters. Tax stamps have been introduced in 40 different countries for a variety of reasons ranging from quality assurance to tackling fraud. Of eight European Union and accession countries where direct inquiries have been made, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic have no plans to withdraw their schemes. Greece have withdrawn their 'quality' marker stamp and Belgium decided after consideration not to introduce tax stamps. Additionally, we are aware that the USA withdrew their tax stamps in 1985 when the 1954 law governing marks on spirits was repealed. The variety of reasons for introduction and withdrawal of tax stamp schemes highlight that direct comparisons between different countries' excise regimes cannot be easily drawn.

Tax Stamp Regimes

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on free trade of tax stamps.

John Healey: Under formal European Union agreements (Council Directive 92/12/EEC) member states may require the use of tax stamps or other fiscal marks on products subject to excise duty. Any such scheme must ensure that the tax stamps do not create obstacles to the free movement of the products.

Tax Stamp Regimes

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect he expects the electronic control of movements systems which will be in place in the EU by 2009 to have on tax stamp regimes.

John Healey: The EU Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) should be introduced by July 2009 and should reinforce the Government's strategy to tackle alcohol duty fraud. It will allow member states to monitor, in real time, the despatch and receipt of movements of alcohol, as well as tobacco and certain fuel products, between tax warehouses located in different member states. EMCS will be an improvement on the current paper-based system of Accompanying Administrative Documents. However, tax stamps are still likely to have a useful role to play in the detection of smuggled and diverted products after the full implementation of EMCS.

Trade Balance (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the balance of trade between Wales and (a) the rest of the United Kingdom, (b) the rest of the European Union and (c) the rest of the world was for each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: Figures for trade in goods between Wales and the European Union, and for Wales and the rest of the world are shown in the following table:
	
		Estimates of regional trade -- £ million
		
			 Wales 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 January to September 2003 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Exports to EU 4,171 4,284 4,493 4,884 4,788 4,691 3,422 
			 Imports from EU 1,299 1,649 2,005 2,234 1,999 2,376 1,821 
			 Exports to Rest of the World 1,593 1,521 1,819 2,288 2,311 1,928 1,909 
			 Imports from Rest of the World 2,310 2,671 3,515 3,604 3,709 3,475 2,210 
		
	
	Source:
	Published in the 2003 Quarter 3 Regional Trade Statistics Press Release on 18 December 2003.
	HM Customs and Excise do not collect information on the movement of traded goods between countries or regions within the UK.
	These figures exclude the value of services and other intangibles included in the Balance of Payments, as the Balance of Payments estimates are published only for the UK as a whole.

VAT

Denzil Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount raised from VAT charged on goods imported into the United Kingdom was in each of the last three available financial years.

John Healey: The amount of import VAT received in the last three financial years was:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			  
			  
			 2000–01 17,001 
			 2001–02 16,194 
			 2002–03 15,523 
		
	
	These figures include ex-warehouse VAT and are published in the Customs and Excise VAT Factsheet at www.uktradeinfo.com.
	Importers registered for VAT reclaim import VAT on their VAT returns.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

"Made in Britain" Identification

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has made to the European Commission with respect to their proposal that the "Made in Britain" identification be replaced by Made in Europe; and if she will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: No proposal has been made to abolish national trading marks and replace them by a European Union wide trademark. The European Commission has produced a discussion document setting out options in considering possible EU origin marking. The document does not suggest abolition of national markings such as "Made in Britain". The Government are currently finalising its response to the Commission having consulted interested parties in the UK, including business, trade unions, retailers and consumer organisations. At a meeting with EU Trade Ministers on 25 January I made it clear that British companies would want to retain the ability to say "Made in Britain" or use other current marks and was assured by Commissioner Pascal Lamy that there was no proposal to interfere with companies continuing to do so.

Business Link

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will assess the impact of Business Link on company productivity.

Nigel Griffiths: Two studies of the impact of Business Link have concluded that it provides good value for money in terms of additional jobs, turnover, profits, assets, exports and productivity growth. The work will be updated this summer.
	An integral part of the new Business Link Performance Management Framework is the inclusion of a Gross Value Added measure. This enables Business Link Operators to quantify—in terms of wealth creation and productivity improvements—the impact of their support to businesses with whom they have built a more intensive relationship. Data will be available later this year.

Call Centres

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she intends to publish the competitiveness survey of UK call centres which her Department has commissioned.

Patricia Hewitt: The study will examine the key factors contributing to the relative competitiveness of UK call centres. Subject to progress of the study, we will publish a report on the study and its findings in April 2004.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants, broken down by grade, there are in the Department and the agencies for which the Department is responsible; and what the figures were in January 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: The Department of Trade and Industry and its agencies have reorganised their grading structures since 1997. This makes drawing direct comparison between current grades and those in 1997 very difficult.
	In light of this, the following two tables have been provided:
	Table 1 shows a comparison of the total number of staff in the Department of Trade and Industry on 1 January 1997 and the current date;
	Table 2 shows a breakdown of the current staff in DTI and its agencies in terms of the closest equivalent of the old Civil Service grades.
	To produce an equivalent table for 1997 would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		Table 1: Staff on 1January 1997 and as of the current date
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1 January 1997 9,143 
			 23 January 2004 9,224 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Breakdown of the current grade structure
		
			 Grade Level Headcount 
		
		
			 AA Level 498 
			 AO Level 2,346 
			 EO Level 1,576 
			 HEO Level 1,806 
			 SEO Level 834 
			 Grade 7 Level 1,089 
			 Grade 6 Level 398 
			 Faststream 141 
			 Senior Civil Service 468 
			 Unknown Grade(5) 68 
			 Grand total 9,224 
		
	
	(5) Unknown grade includes staff who have joined the Department from other organisations and who have not been fully assimilated into DTI systems.

Correspondence

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes dated 5 December 2003 concerning Dr. Walter King of Totnes and insurance cover for US markets.

Patricia Hewitt: My office has no record of having received the letter from the hon. Member.

Dark Matter Project, Saltburn

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent on the Dark Matter Project at Boulby Mine, Loftus, Saltburn-by-the-Sea since its inception.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 19 January 2004
	The DTI has, through the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), spent £13.366 million on the Dark Matter experiment at Boulby since 1992. This figure includes £2.4 million of a Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) award totalling £3.1 million.

Energy Efficiency

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding the specifying of energy efficiency aims in the Energy White Paper.

Stephen Timms: The Energy White Paper was collectively agreed by Ministers (including the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) before being presented to Parliament in February 2003. Since then my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has met regularly with colleagues from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in a variety of fora, to discuss sustainable development and energy issues. Energy efficiency and the implementation of the energy efficiency aims in the Energy White Paper have formed part of those discussions.

Export Credits Guarantee Department (Iraq)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the contracts for which Iraq incurred its outstanding debt to the Export Credit Guarantee Department, including the names of the projects and the UK companies concerned; and if she will make a statement on the Government's intention to recover this debt.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 29 January 2004
	ECGD has unrecovered claims of around £623 million arising from contracts with Iraq signed prior to the first Gulf conflict in 1991. This amount does not include interest, which, it is estimated, could bring the figure to around £1 billion.
	These claims stem from more than 500 cases supporting the export of goods ranging from consumer items to heavy industrial equipment. The details of these contracts could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
	The Government believe that Iraq's external debt is unsustainable and that creditors will need to agree a substantial reduction through a clear multilateral process in order to restore Iraq to sustainability. This is likely to lead to the writing off of the vast majority of Iraq's external debt.

Fusion Research Reactor

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2003, Official Report, column 814W, on the fusion research reactor, what assessment was made of the proximity of the Cadarache site to an earthquake fault when the United Kingdom gave its backing to the site.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 29 January 2004
	In making its decision the UK considered the results of two assessments of the ITER candidate sites, the Joint Assessment of Specific Sites (JASS) in January 2003, and the European ITER Site Study Group (EISSG) in May 2003. Both concluded that Cadarache could meet the requirements for ITER. Safety regulations for the construction of new nuclear facilities in France to meet the risk of earthquakes are very strict. Earthquakes are more frequent and stronger in the vicinity of the Japanese candidate site, Rokkasho.

Business Start-ups

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses, and of what type, have received assistance in starting up from government schemes and initiatives in (a) St. Helens, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West in each year from 1992.

Nigel Griffiths: Government support to start-up businesses is delivered primarily through a network of Business Link Operators under contact to the Small Business Service, an agency of the DTI. Numbers of start-up businesses assisted through this network in St. Helens, Merseyside and the North West from April 2001 are as follows:
	
		
			  St. Helens Merseyside North West 
		
		
			 2001–02 4 330 (6)— 
			 2002–03 23 667 1,623 
			 2003–04 (To date) 17 579 3,502 
		
	
	(6) Total business start-ups not recorded separately at regional level before April 2002.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what cost savings have been made in her Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated.

Patricia Hewitt: A Centre of Excellence was established within the Department in June 2003 to integrate the essential functions which underpin the successful delivery of all types of acquisition-based programmes and projects. As cost benefits will not accrue until improvements start to take effect, it is too early to measure cost savings. All Centres of Excellence are currently developing future plans and as part of this process measurement of savings will be defined.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in her Department.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department has a range of software products and management policies to ensure that its IT is used in accordance with its intended purpose.
	All IT services have an aligned security policy setting out the security measures to counter threats including misuse. Staff are advised of these policies and the checks that are made to ensure compliance. The Department's standard desktop service is owned and managed by our PFI partners and has been designed to prevent the unauthorised addition of products and devices. Auditing of this environment is carried out with a mixture of detection software, active monitoring of security logs and non-intrusive checks of data types, keeping in mind the parameters of data protection legislation and complying with OGC guidelines. Allied to these measures are the best practice guidelines available to all staff and line management.
	New services must be procured and implemented in accordance with documented procedures which require business and security approval, with major services being subject to OGC Gateway Review.

Large Hadron Collider

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government have contributed to the funding of the Large Hadron Collider under construction in Switzerland.

Patricia Hewitt: The Government have contributed a total of £361.88 million to CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project since its commencement in 1995. The contributions have been made in three ways:
	(a) Construction of the LHC machine itself via the UK contribution to CERN (£214.57 million)
	(b) The UK element of the CERN share of funding for the LHC Detectors (£67.26 million)
	(c) UK domestic funding of the LHC Detectors (£80.05 million)

Miners' Compensation

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average length of time was for settlement of miners' compensation claims for respiratory diseases in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the UK in each year since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: The figures are in the following table:
	
		Average time from receipt of claim to settlement (days)
		
			 Year claim registered Jarrow South Tyneside UK 
		
		
			 1997(7) 2,109 1,953 1,823 
			 1998(7) 1,417 1,454 1,485 
			 1999(7) 1,151 1,163 1,125 
			 2000 836 851 863 
			 2001 634 641 621 
			 2002 432 398 390 
			 2003 -86(1) 136(1) 173 
		
	
	(7) Currently, the average length of time to settle a claim in Jarrow is 86 days. The table sets out the average time from 1997 to 2003.

Miners' Compensation

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average length of time was for settlement of miners' compensation claims for respiratory diseases in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in each year since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: The information is as follows:
	
		Average time from receipt of claim to settlement (days)
		
			 Year claim registered Lancashire Chorley 
		
		
			 1997(8) 1,921 — 
			 1998(8) 1,448 1,504 
			 1999(8) 1,123 1,104 
			 2000 902 983 
			 2001 598 504 
			 2002(9) 387 505 
			 2003(9) 175 147 
			 2004 5 — 
		
	
	(8) The Department was unable to process any claims until after the signing of the Claims Handling Agreement, agreed with the claimants' solicitors, on 24 September 1999.
	(9) Estate claims put on hold as a lower priority, in agreement with claimants' solicitors.

Miners' Compensation

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners' compensation claims for respiratory diseases (a) have been made, (b) have been settled and (c) are outstanding in (i) Chorley and (ii) Lancashire.

Nigel Griffiths: The figures are as follows:
	
		Chorley
		
			 Year claimregistered Claimreceipts Total settlements including denied/withdrawn(as of 26 January 2004) Number outstanding 
		
		
			 1997(10) — — — 
			 1998(10) 72 46 26 
			 1999 47 32 15 
			 2000 21 12 9 
			 2001 26 10 16 
			 2002(11) 33 3 30 
			 2003(11) 309 5 304 
			 2004 47 — 47 
			 Total 555 108 447 
		
	
	
		Lancashire
		
			 Year claimregistered Claim receipts Total settlements including denied/withdrawn(as of 26 January 2004) Number outstanding 
		
		
			 1997(10) 14 7 7 
			 1998(10) 1,964 1,308 656 
			 1999(10) 960 581 379 
			 2000 684 381 303 
			 2001 959 400 559 
			 2002(11) 1,293 336 957 
			 2003(11) 7,627 145 7,482 
			 2004 815 4 811 
			 Total 14,316 3,162 11,154 
		
	
	(10) The Department was not able to process claims until after the signing of the Claims Handling Agreement, agreed with the claimants' solicitor on 24 September 1999.
	(11) Estate claims put on hold as a lower priority, in agreement with the claimants' solicitors.
	Notes:
	1. Lancashire consists of the following constituencies: Blackburn; Bolton, North-East; Bolton, South-East; Bolton, West; Burnley; Bury, North; Bury, South; Rossendale and Darwen; Blackpool, North and Fleetwood; Blackpool, South; Hyndburn, Lancaster and Wyre; Morecambe and Lunesdale; Leigh; Makerfield; Worsley; Pendle; Preston; and Ribble Valley.
	2. Constituency figures can be found on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk/coalhealth. The information is compiled in the middle of the month and shows the figures for the end of the previous month.
	3. Claims are dealt with on a priority basis, those from the eldest and sickest living miners and their widows being dealt with first. Claims that are outstanding may be a lower priority or they may have an outstanding policy issue that is preventing settlement of the claim.

National Business Angel Network

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Business Angel Network in matching entrepreneurs with private investors.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 27 January 2004
	An external evaluation of the National Business Angels Network took place early in 2003 that examined all aspects of its operation, including its matchmaking activities. It was on the basis of the evaluation's findings that the Department decided not to continue funding this element of the National Business Angels Network's operations.

Overseas Investment

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what investment has been made in (a) China, (b) India, (c) Japan and (d) South Korea by United Kingdom small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2000;
	(2)  what investment has been made in (a) Pakistan, (b) Sri Lanka, (c) Brunei and (d) Cambodia by United Kingdom small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2000;
	(3)  what investment has been made in (a) Indonesia, (b) Laos, (c) Macao and (d) Malaysia by United Kingdom small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2000;
	(4)  what investment has been made in (a) Philippines, (b) Singapore, (c) Taiwan, (d) Thailand and (e) Vietnam by United Kingdom small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2000.

Mike O'Brien: holding answers 27 January 2004
	This information is not collected by HMG and there would be a disproportionate cost to obtaining the information.

Pneumoconiosis Benefit

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications for benefit under the Coalworkers Pneumoconiosis Scheme have been received in each of the last six years from claimants from (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.

Nigel Griffiths: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of claims received (UK) 
		
		
			 1998 746 
			 1999 809 
			 2000 550 
			 2001 646 
			 2002 1,014 
			 2003 1,767 
		
	
	A geographical breakdown of claims is not kept.

Power Supply (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the security of the power supply in Wales.

Stephen Timms: The Government attach great importance to maintaining reliable energy supplies—it is one of the four key goals of energy policy identified in our Energy White Paper, published last year.
	As the transmission licensee in England and Wales, National Grid Transco (NGT) is under an obligation to operate and maintain an efficient, economic and coordinated electricity system.
	In its Winter Outlook, NGT assessed the risks to gas and electricity security of supply for England and Wales during the winter of 2003–04. The report predicted a generating plant margin of just over 16 per cent. for the winter and stated that,
	"Under most scenarios network security can be maintained without any interruption of firm gas supplies or electricity demand."
	Since the report, more generating plant has been returned from mothballs, and the projected plant margin for England and Wales has increased to just over 20 per cent., a similar level to last year.
	To monitor developments in the electricity market in the medium to long term, the Department of Trade and Industry is working, with Ofgem, through the Joint Energy Security of Supply working group (JESS). The latest JESS report was published on 12 November and copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Quality Mark Scheme

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses in the construction industry have joined the Quality Mark scheme; and what action she is taking to promote the scheme.

Nigel Griffiths: To date 512 firms have joined the Quality Mark Scheme. 702 firms are going through the formal application process. DTI is also working with representative trade bodies and local authority schemes to align membership requirements with Quality Mark. The most recent in a series of launches to the trade was in the north-west in October/November 2003.
	Discussions are being held with industry representatives about the best way to promote the benefits of Quality Mark.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) partial and (b) full regulatory impact assessments have been undertaken in relation to EU legislation for each year since 1998; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) are produced for all policy proposals that have a cost to or benefit for business irrespective of the origins of the policy. Copies of full RIAs are placed in the Libraries of the House. Records of the origin of each policy proposal are not held centrally.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the quantification of the costs and benefits of regulations on (a) consumers, (b) small and medium-sized businesses and (c) the Government in the course of regulatory impact assessments.

Nigel Griffiths: The costs and benefits of a policy proposal are collated in consultation with stakeholders and recorded in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). All RIAs are required to include a small firms impact test to ensure that policy proposals do not have a disproportionate effect on small businesses. The assessments also include a competition assessment to ensure that any policy proposals do not have negative effects on competition. Costs to Government, including enforcement costs, are included in the RIA.
	Copies of full RIAs are placed in the Libraries of the House.

Small and Medium-sized Companies

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to promote the use of the internet among small and medium-sized companies.

Stephen Timms: Since 2000, DTI has sought to promote the use of the internet among SMEs through the UK online for business programme. As a result of a decision to restructure business support within DTI, the activities of UK online for business will be integrated into the wider activities of the Department and the Business Link organisation. The decision to restructure has been a direct response to feedback from stakeholders and the aim will be to rationalise the wide range of schemes run by the Department into a small number of coherent and focused products.
	The strategy for DTI will be to underline the business benefits that can be achieved through effective use of the internet and other information and communication technologies. Businesses need to become more sophisticated users of the technologies and address issues relating to people and processes as well as the technology itself. DTI will continue to put forward examples of best practice of ICT usage, through websites, publications and events, working closely with industry partners.

Small and Medium-sized Companies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking (a) to improve access to investment capital and (b) to provide other support to small businesses; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths: Since coming to office, the Government have taken a number of steps to improve SMEs' ability to access investment capital. These include the development of Regional Venture Capital Funds, the UK High Technology Fund, Early Growth Funds, The Community Development Venture Fund (known as the Bridges Fund), Community Investment Tax Relief and Investment Readiness demonstration projects. We are currently also developing Enterprise Capital Funds following the 'Bridging the Finance Gap' consultation announced in Budget 2003.
	In addition, the changes proposed by the Chancellor in his pre-Budget report to enhance the already effective Venture Capital Trust and Enterprise Investment Scheme tax incentives will further improve the availability of investment capital.
	The Government have provided, and continue to provide, a system for practical help and advice to small businesses via Business Link, providing easy access to objective information and support across a wide range of initiatives and financial packages. Business Link provides help and advice for those wishing to start a small business or who are already in a small business. Full details are available on the website (www. businesslink.gov.uk)
	Recently, the Government have taken action to support small business via a wide range of initiatives, as outlined in "The Government Action Plan for Small Business" published on 8 January 2004 and available on the Small Business Service website (www.sbs.gov.uk). It provides a comprehensive account of the significant Government help being made available to small businesses.

Small Business Service

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Small Business Service has cost in each year since it was established and how many people it employed in each year.

Nigel Griffiths: The administration cost of the Small Business Service for each year since it was established, is shown in the following table with the people employed each year. These figures are in the Small Business Service published accounts available in the Libraries of the House.
	
		
			  £000 People (average full time equivalent) Comment 
		
		
			 2000–01 10,195 203 Excluding agency staff and secondments 
			 2001–02 13,420 284 Excluding agency staff and secondments 
			 2001–02 13,420 326 Revised to include agency staff and secondments 
			 2002–03 18,012 440 Includes agency staff and secondments 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. We have interpreted the question as being about how much the small business service costs to run (£18 million in 2002–03), rather than the cost of the programmes it delivers (outturn £354 million in 2002–03).
	2. The total cost of running the SBS reported in the accounts includes not only the administration budget from DTI (outturn £11.5 million in 2002–03) which covers staff in London and Sheffield, and Directors for the regions, but also the cost of the regional teams, SBS's share of DTI central services and accommodation costs.
	3. The leap in administration costs from 2001–02 (£13 million) to 2002–03 (£18 million) is due to the transfer of 94 staff (full-time equivalents) from Government Offices to SBS regional teams, and to a rise in accommodation costs.

Smart Award

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has (a) to increase the upper limit of Smart award grants and (b) to simplify the Smart application process.

Nigel Griffiths: The information is as follows.
	(a) Following the DTI's review of business support, the Smart scheme has been replaced with a new product from 1 June 2003, Grant for Research and Development, which provides a higher maximum grant for each element than did Smart. The maxima are now £20,000 for a micro project, £75,000 for a research project, £200,000 for a development project and £500,000 for an exceptional development project.
	(b) In December 2002 the Smart application form and guidance notes for applicants were simplified so that the number of questions on the form was reduced from 35 to nine. Those modifications have been carried over into the Grant for Research and Development application form. The application procedure is the minimum necessary to protect public funds but is kept under review.

Smart Award

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of Smart award-winners have reported increased profitability as a result of their award.

Nigel Griffiths: The report of the most recent, independent evaluation of the Smart scheme was published in September 2001. Of those award recipients surveyed 51 per cent. indicated that their business had become more profitable as a result of the Smart support received.

Space Research

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether debt accrued by the Beagle 2 programme will be met from existing departmental budget allocations for space programmes and research.

Patricia Hewitt: The Beagle 2 Mars lander was funded by a combination of public and private sector contributions. All funding provided by my Department, directly or by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Council, has been paid as grants. In certain circumstances, some elements of those grants were repayable. Those circumstances have not arisen to date. The Department has no outstanding commitments to the project.

UK Online for Business

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent on the agency UK online for business in each year since its inception.

Stephen Timms: The following was spent on the DTI programme, UK online for business:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 (12)13.9 
			 2001–02 15.1 
			 2002–03 13.1 
			 2003–04 (13)7 
		
	
	(12) UK online for business was established in September 2000 as a successor programme to the Information Society Initiative. Expenditure in 2000–01 includes the period April-August 2000, when the ISI was still in force.
	(13) The figure for 2003–04 includes spend year to date plus forecast spend for remainder of the year.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Clerical Terms of Service

Laura Moffatt: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will make a statement on the effect of the recent announcements on rights for members of the clergy; and whether the Church Commissioners will have a role in monitoring progress.

Stuart Bell: I refer to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral, South (Mr. Chapman) earlier. While the Review in question is being conducted under the auspices of the Archbishops' Council, hon. Members will know that I take a keen interest in this subject and the Church Commissioners will certainly be consulted by the Council as the matter is taken forward.

Church Repairs (VAT)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent representations he has received on reducing VAT on church repairs.

Stuart Bell: The hon. Lady will be aware that the broader EU VAT review has currently reached an impasse following the rejection by the Council of Ministers of the proposals brought forward by the Commission last summer. The EU Presidency has now changed and the matter has yet to be formally brought forward for further discussion. The impending elections to the EU Parliament and the likely changes resulting from the appointment of the new Commission later this year may further delay resolution or even consideration of the EU VAT review.
	Meanwhile, the Church VAT Group was delighted that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has been extended to March 2006. The Group remains in touch with officials at HM Treasury and we know that the Government are committed to achieving the aim of a VAT reduction in this area.

Financial Review

Robert Key: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the recommendations of the Church Commissioners' strategic financial review will be developed into spending plans for 2005 to 2007.

Stuart Bell: The recommendations of the financial review group will be debated by the Church of England's General Synod on 11 February. Spending plans for 2005–07 will be developed by the Archbishops' Council and the Church Commissioners in the light of that debate and consultation with other interested parties, and shared with Synod later in 2004.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

"Minted"

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what definition of the term minted is used by his Department in (a) internal and external documents and (b) external advertising.

Stephen Twigg: The word 'minted' is a slang word. The meaning is imprecise but suggests 'having money'.
	This word has been in a recent radio advert which aims to raise awareness about student support available to those considering higher education. It has not been used in any internal or external documents.

Child Deaths

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) cot deaths and (b) sudden infant death syndrome deaths were recorded in (i) 2003, (ii) 2002, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2000, (v) 1999, (vi) 1998 and (vii) 1997.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Mr. Len Cook to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 2 February 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on how many a) cot deaths, and b) 'sudden infant death syndrome' deaths were recorded in (i) 2003, (ii) 2002, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2000, (v) 1999, (vi) 1998 and (vii) 1997. (152031)
	In England and Wales the terms 'cot death' and 'Sudden Infant Death Syndrome' are used synonymously in classifying cause of death in babies. In producing figures ONS uses a broad definition of "sudden infant death". This includes any mention of "sudden infant death", "cot death", "crib death", "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" or some similar term on the death certificate.
	The latest available figures are for 2002. Figures since 1997 are given below.
	
		Sudden infant(14) deaths, England and Wales, 1997–2002
		
			  Numbers Rates(15) 
		
		
			 1997 393 0.61 
			 1998 289 0.45 
			 1999 280 0.45 
			 2000 246 0.41 
			 2001 240 0.40 
			 2002(16) 187 0.31 
		
	
	(14) Babies less than one year old.
	(15) Rate per 1,000 live births.
	(16) Provisional.
	Further information is available in two Health Statistics Quarterly articles: 'HSQ 10—Are unascertained deaths the same as sudden infant deaths?' and 'HSQ 19—Sudden infant deaths, 2002', which are available on the national statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=6725.

Children in Care

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children aged (a) three to six months and (b) six months to one year entered local authority care in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is given for children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2002, and for children looked after at 31 March 2002, and is presented in the table.
	
		Children looked after in England aged under 1, year ending 31March 2002
		
			 Age Number of children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2002 (by age on starting)(17) Number of children looked after at 31 March 2002 (by age on that date) 
		
		
			 All aged under 1 year 3,900 2,300 
			 0–3 months 2,600 390 
			 3–6 months 510 600 
			 6 months-1 year 800 1,340 
		
	
	(17) Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted.

Children in Care

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what discussions the Minister for Children has held with the Lord Chancellor on ensuring the provision of Legal Aid to those who may wish to challenge past decisions to take children into care on the basis of previous cases of sudden infant death in their families;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to review cases where children have been taken into care on the basis of previous cases of sudden infant death in their families.

Charles Clarke: The Appeal Court announced its judgment in the case of R v. Angela Cannings on 19 January 2004. I am now studying the judgment carefully, in the light of the Attorney-General's statement on 20 January.
	Responsibility for the provision of publicly funded legal services is a matter for the Lord Chancellor.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) greater London.

Stephen Twigg: My Department occupies in total 33,985 square metres of office space in central London, at Caxton House SW1 and Sanctuary Buildings SW1. We have no other offices in central London.

Criminal Records Bureau

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on extending the checking procedures of the Criminal Records Bureau to people engaged in observer roles in classrooms and other school activities.

Stephen Twigg: My Department has received no representations on this matter.

Employer Training Pilots

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list for Lancashire the firms and companies taking part in employer training pilots; and how much public funding they have been given.

Ivan Lewis: Pilots are currently running in 12 LSC areas: Birmingham and Solihull, Derbyshire, Essex, Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear, Wiltshire and Swindon, Berkshire, East London, Kent, Leicester, Shropshire, and South Yorkshire.
	Therefore there is not currently a pilot running in Lancashire. In the pre-Budget report statement, the Chancellor announced the extension of the Employer Training Pilots for a third year. Officials are currently working to develop guidelines for selecting pilots to be launched in September.

Education Maintenance Allowances (Liverpool)

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of education maintenance allowances in improving staying-on rates in Liverpool.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The independent evaluation of EMA began in September 1999 and assesses the impact of EMA among EMA-eligible young people in 10 of the first 15 pilot areas compared to 11 control areas. This evaluation estimated the impact nationally will be around 4.1 percentage points among the full cohort of young people.
	Liverpool LEA began piloting EMA in September 2000 and is not formally part of the statistical evaluation. Therefore we do not have statistically reliable information on the exact impact of EMA in Liverpool. We do, however, collect information to assess participation by 16 and 17 year olds by LEA area. This data, which is available on the DfES website and includes information on the numbers of young people accepted for EMA, is replicated in the following table. Although we cannot say that EMA is the only factor causing the increase in participation, it must be a significant contributor to this effect.
	
		Liverpool
		
			 Age 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			  Participation in education (percentage of age group) 
			 16 63 64 66 — — 
			 17 48 48 48 — — 
			 Combined 55 56 57 — — 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of students in further education colleges by LEA of student residency 
		
		
			 1997–98 29,394 
			 1998–99 31,075 
			 1999–2000 30,161 
			 2000–01 31,668 
			 2001–02 35,059 
		
	
	
		
			  Young people accepted for education maintenance allowance (EMA) 
		
		
			 2000–01 3,300 
			 2001–02 3,900

Further and Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to ask the Higher Education Funding Council for England to increase directly funded higher education provision in further education colleges; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: I have no plans to ask the Higher Education Funding Council for England to increase directly funded higher education provision in further education colleges. As we said in the White Paper, "The Future of Higher Education", it is important that higher education provision in further education colleges is of the high quality we expect from higher education. We believe that structured partnerships between colleges and universities—franchise or consortium arrangements with colleges funded through partner higher education institutions—will be the primary vehicle to meet these aims and deliver the best benefits for learners.
	There are some instances of niche provision where direct funding of higher education in further education colleges is more appropriate and this will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Further and Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Common Inspection Framework will take account of higher education provision in further education colleges; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The Common Inspection Framework does not cover higher education provision in further education colleges and there are no plans for it to do so. The quality of higher education provided through further education colleges is subject to review by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) acting on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which has a statutory responsibility to assure the quality of provision it funds. The QAA assesses quality at subject level in further education colleges under the 'Academic Review' element of its quality assurance regime.

Further and Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with the (a) Quality Assurance Agency and (b) Higher Education Funding Council for England regarding successor arrangements to Academic Review for directly funded higher education which is provided by further education colleges.

Alan Johnson: None at present. I am aware that HEFCE and QAA are currently considering the successor arrangements after the current round has been completed, and are committed to introducing a revised system.

Further and Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what new research he is planning to ascertain the scale and scope of higher education delivered by further education colleges; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The Department does not currently have any plans for further research into the scale and scope of higher education delivered by further education providers. The Department, HEFCE and the LSC already have information relating to the amount and type of higher education delivered in further education colleges.
	The Government want to expand higher education, including through work-focused Foundation Degrees. Our expectation is that many new Foundation Degrees will be delivered by colleges working with higher education institutions. HEFCE recently invited further education colleges and higher education institutions to bid for additional student numbers and they will be announcing the outcome this spring.

Further and Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to establish teacher training qualifications for higher education teaching in further education colleges; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The White Paper, "The Future of Higher Education", published in January 2003, set out our expectation that professional teaching standards and mandatory qualifications for new higher education (HE) teachers should be established. These are due to be introduced by 2006 and will be applicable to those teaching HE in further education colleges. They will complement the regulations already in place for FE teachers.

Higher National Diplomas/Foundation Degrees

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for the retention of Higher National Diplomas; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: It is our expectation that in due course the Foundation Degree will replace the Higher National Diploma. Higher National Diplomas have served employers well in the past and while employer loyalty exists in some sectors, the numbers applying for these courses are in decline.
	Edexcel, who award the BTEC Higher National Diploma, have announced plans to make BTEC Foundation Degrees available. Colleges and universities currently offering HNDs will make decisions about whether they retain their HND provision, develop their own Foundation Degrees, or move to new BTEC Foundation Degrees. In doing so, they will take account of student and employer demand.

Lottery Revenue

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total value is of lottery revenue used to support Government-sponsored projects within his Department since 1997.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 26 January 2004
	My Department has no policy or operational responsibility for distribution of National Lottery proceeds. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 26 January 2004 by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts.

Management Consultants

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost to his Department of using management consultants has been in each of the last five years.

Stephen Twigg: The following table shows the expenditure in the last five financial years on management consultancy in the Department for Education and Skills and its predecessor, the Department for Education and Employment, (including the Sure Start Unit and the then Children and Young People's Unit).
	
		Expenditure on management consultancy
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1998–99 5.0 
			 1999–2000 3.7 
			 2000–01 4.3 
			 2001–02 5.0 
			 2002–03 4.0 
		
	
	These figures are for consultancy falling within the Department's administrative cost limit and exclude programme consultancy costs, which are currently not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Modern Apprenticeships

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department has spent on Modern Apprenticeships in each year since their inception.

Ivan Lewis: Modern Apprenticeships (MA), in England are funded through the work based learning for young people budget of the Learning and Skills Council. This budget covers Advanced MAs, Foundation MAs, NVQ Learning and Entry to Employment. The LSC estimate that of the £673 million budget for Work Based Learning £467 million was spent on MAs in 2001–02. In 2002–03 the LSC's budget for WBL was £828 million of which it is estimated that £539 million was spent on MAs. The LSC's budget for WBL for 2003–04 is £791 million. Before April 2001 MAs were funded by the Training and Enterprise Councils (TEC). Disaggregated data showing the amount of funding spent on MAs from their work based learning for young people budget in this period is not available.

NVQs

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the percentage of the population of London who have National Vocational Qualifications at level (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3.

Ivan Lewis: The percentages of the working age 1 population in London who have National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) at level 1, 2 or 3 are presented in table 1 as follows:
	1 Working age is defined as males aged 16–64 and females aged 16–59.
	
		Table 1: Highest level of NVQ held by people of working age, London and England, autumn 2003
		
			  England London 
			 Level Thousand Percentage Thousand Percentage 
		
		
			 Level 1 438 1.4 53 1.1 
			 Level 2 1,274 4.1 117 2.4 
			 Level 3 973 3.1 67 1.3 
			 Level 4 181 0.6 18 0.4 
			 Level 5 45 0.1 (18)— (18)— 
			 Level unknown 389 1.2 36 0.7 
			 Total 3,301 10.5 294 5.9 
			 Working age population 31,296  4,971  
		
	
	(18) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.
	Source:
	Labour Force Survey, Autumn 2003.

School Absenteeism

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in England and Wales missed at least one half day session of school in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2002–03 in each local education authority.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The information requested is shown in the following table for local education authorities in England.
	The average number of sessions missed per absent pupil due to authorised and unauthorised absence has also been provided together with the attendance rate in percentage terms.
	Absence information for schools in Wales can be obtained from the National Assembly for Wales.
	
		Public absence in maintained primary and secondary schools in England, 1997/98 and 2002/03
		
			  Academic year 1997/98 
			  Authorised absence Unauthorised absence 
			  Number of pupils that missed a session Average number sessions missed Number of pupils that missed a session Average number sessions missed Attendancerate (%) 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 21,291 24 6,665 16 91.3 
			 Barnet 35,677 21 5,409 14 93.1 
			 Barnsley 27,900 23 7,372 15 91.5 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 20,039 19 2,273 11 93.8 
			 Bedfordshire 47,755 20 5,261 11 93.4 
			 Bexley 30,184 22 3,597 11 92.6 
			 Birmingham 141,422 25 35,831 15 90.9 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 21,215 24 4,482 15 91.6 
			 Blackpool 17,197 24 3,867 16 91.5 
			 Bolton 36,805 22 5,356 21 92.5 
			 Bournemouth 17,773 22 4,090 11 91.9 
			 Bracknell Forest 11,839 18 1,490 9 94.1 
			 Bradford 66,183 22 21,422 17 91.6 
			 Brent 24,425 21 4,963 13 92.9 
			 Brighton and Hove 22,624 22 4,711 13 92.1 
			 Bristol, City of 40,468 23 10,219 15 91.3 
			 Bromley 35,062 20 5,136 11 93.3 
			 Buckinghamshire 56,038 19 4,807 11 94.1 
			 Bury 22,806 21 3,036 13 93.4 
			 Calderdale 27,386 22 3,653 13 92.9 
			 Cambridgeshire 59,249 20 9,576 11 93.4 
			 Camden 16,357 25 4,609 17 91.1 
			 Cheshire 82,786 19 10,479 13 93.9 
			 Cornwall 60,822 21 8,016 9 92.9 
			 Coventry 40,387 24 6,167 16 91.9 
			 Croydon 36,245 24 5,808 12 92.3 
			 Cumbria 60,232 22 4,358 15 93.2 
			 Darlington 12,504 24 1,416 23 91.8 
			 Derby City 28,722 21 6,323 12 92.6 
			 Derbyshire 87,758 19 13,312 14 93.4 
			 Devon 78,240 20 12,721 9 93.1 
			 Doncaster 39,941 26 7,369 20 91.0 
			 Dorset 44,416 22 6,714 8 93.2 
			 Dudley 38,047 21 3,894 12 93.0 
			 Durham 62,196 25 6,477 23 91.5 
			 Ealing 31,241 22 6,504 14 92.2 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 38,688 20 5,697 12 93.2 
			 East Sussex 50,293 20 9,412 13 92.9 
			 Enfield 35,406 21 8,772 13 92.6 
			 Essex 159,335 21 24,169 12 93.0 
			 Gateshead 22,551 24 3,420 22 92.1 
			 Gloucestershire 68,726 20 7,319 9 93.5 
			 Greenwich 26,837 23 10,456 17 90.8 
			 Hackney 20,116 24 6,583 16 91.2 
			 Halton 17,808 22 3,536 15 92.4 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 11,207 24 3,685 20 90.9 
			 Hampshire 142,310 19 21,598 11 93.7 
			 Haringey 21,936 23 8,124 16 91.8 
			 Harrow 24,390 25 3,778 11 92.5 
			 Hartlepool 12,229 22 2,316 23 92.0 
			 Havering 29,254 20 3,522 11 93.3 
			 Herefordshire 19,847 20 1,727 14 93.4 
			 Hertfordshire 125,895 19 15,697 11 93.9 
			 Hillingdon 28,936 22 7,764 13 92.2 
			 Hounslow 27,188 24 6,299 12 91.3 
			 Isle of Wight 15,845 24 2,108 10 91.9 
			 Isles of Scilly 221 21 9 13 92.7 
			 Islington 18,402 23 6,366 17 91.5 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 7,832 21 2,551 17 91.5 
			 Kent 161,121 21 20,573 12 93.0 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 36,197 28 11,099 20 89.0 
			 Kingston upon Thames 15,115 20 1,709 14 93.0 
			 Kirklees 51,449 20 12,343 14 92.9 
			 Knowsley 22,664 25 5,876 20 90.7 
			 Lambeth 20,675 24 7,715 12 91.4 
			 Lancashire 144,388 21 18,210 14 93.3 
			 Leeds 87,620 23 18,733 18 91.9 
			 Leicester City 37,981 25 8,904 16 91.2 
			 Leicestershire 77,014 21 8,452 17 93.3 
			 Lewisham 24,291 22 9,524 16 91.3 
			 Lincolnshire 74,147 19 9,203 15 93.5 
			 Liverpool 58,721 28 13,326 20 90.3 
			 London, City of 131 10 85 11 95.6 
			 Luton 24,982 21 6,076 10 92.8 
			 Manchester 55,120 30 15,385 20 88.9 
			 Medway 35,930 21 6,330 11 92.7 
			 Merton 17,698 23 5,312 15 91.7 
			 Middlesbrough 19,390 26 4,041 15 91.0 
			 Milton Keynes 27,790 23 3,258 13 92.1 
			 Newbury 19,029 22 1,697 14 91.1 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 30,171 27 5,248 18 90.9 
			 Newham 35,427 21 19,203 15 92.7 
			 Norfolk 88,667 21 12,707 13 91.6 
			 North East Lincolnshire 23,776 23 3,325 25 92.9 
			 North Lincolnshire 20,161 21 3,075 15 93.5 
			 North Somerset 21,883 19 2,490 17 93.0 
			 North Tyneside 24,011 21 1,582 23 94.1 
			 North Yorkshire 65,408 18 5,049 12 93.1 
			 Northamptonshire 79,026 21 13,657 12 93.4 
			 Northumberland 38,235 21 2,872 17 90.2 
			 Nottingham City 32,818 26 11,802 20 92.8 
			 Nottinghamshire 93,785 20 15,729 17 91.6 
			 Oldham 33,330 25 7,473 17 93.0 
			 Oxfordshire 67,119 20 13,318 13 92.1 
			 Peterborough City 23,068 23 4,879 12 93.1 
			 Plymouth 32,983 20 5,942 10 92.5 
			 Poole 15,127 22 3,135 9 91.1 
			 Portsmouth 21,952 25 5,228 16 92.8 
			 Reading 13,836 20 3,806 14 92.9 
			 Redbridge 30,052 21 6,083 10 91.9 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 20,093 24 2,035 22 93.1 
			 Richmond upon Thames 16,702 21 1,505 18 91.7 
			 Rochdale 25,822 25 5,595 18 91.9 
			 Rotherham 35,586 23 6,582 18 93.7 
			 Rutland 3,997 20 373 14 90.7 
			 Salford 27,039 27 5,601 18 90.9 
			 Sandwell 40,438 26 8,130 16 92.7 
			 Sefton 38,173 22 4,476 12 91.3 
			 Sheffield 58,674 24 16,740 18 93.7 
			 Shropshire 33,566 18 4,625 9 92.6 
			 Slough 13,462 22 3,103 11 93.1 
			 Solihull 29,547 21 2,553 13 93.4 
			 Somerset 57,371 20 6,294 11 93.5 
			 South Gloucestershire 30,396 19 5,258 10 92.5 
			 South Tyneside 20,419 24 1,137 12 92.2 
			 Southampton 26,104 22 6,301 13 92.5 
			 Southend-on-Sea 19,532 21 4,157 15 91.6 
			 Southwark 23,725 23 9,502 18 92.6 
			 St Helens 23,287 23 2,484 10 93.5 
			 Staffordshire 103,311 20 10,580 11 93.2 
			 Stockport 34,554 20 6,561 13 92.6 
			 Stockton on Tees 26,885 22 1,646 22 91.9 
			 Stoke on Trent 31,563 23 5,218 14 93.8 
			 Suffolk 77,371 19 7,336 12 92.2 
			 Sunderland 40,658 24 5,092 16 93.4 
			 Surrey 106,334 20 9,540 11 93.5 
			 Sutton 21,589 20 2,815 10 92.4 
			 Swindon 24,252 23 4,897 10 92.1 
			 Tameside 30,435 24 4,152 17 92.2 
			 The Wrekin 21,919 22 3,932 12 91.8 
			 Thurrock 18,058 23 3,729 16 92.0 
			 Torbay 15,254 23 2,240 9 91.0 
			 Tower Hamlets 25,759 22 13,707 14 92.9 
			 Trafford 28,119 22 2,941 16 92.5 
			 Wakefield 42,261 22 9,319 11 91.4 
			 Walsall 36,899 25 8,141 13 91.6 
			 Waltham Forest 27,576 22 8,338 15 92.0 
			 Wandsworth 19,906 24 4,474 15 93.8 
			 Warrington 25,740 20 2,407 14 93.2 
			 Warwickshire 61,503 21 6,146 14 94.1 
			 West Sussex 83,925 18 9,807 11 93.2 
			 Westminster, City of 13,219 21 4,620 10 90.3 
			 Wigan 41,916 26 5,313 20 92.5 
			 Wiltshire 51,372 24 6,698 20 93.8 
			 Windsor & Maidenhead 14,961 19 1,699 10 93.7 
			 Wirral 42,125 20 4,901 11 92.3 
			 Wokingham 18,953 23 2,345 18 94.4 
			 Wolverhampton 31,133 17 7,312 9 90.8 
			 Worcestershire 64,153 26 8,501 15 93.0 
			 York, City of 17,644 21 1,946 14 94.0 
			 Total 5,974,052 18 1,029,549 14 92.6 
		
	
	
		Academic year 2002–03
		
			  Authorised absence Unauthorised absence 
			  Number of pupils that missed a session Average number sessions missed Number of pupils that missed a session Average number sessions missed Attendance rate (%) 
			 Barking and Dagenham 23,161 20 10,116 12 92.1 
			 Barnet 36,343 19 7,642 12 93.5 
			 Barnsley 29,266 22 8,556 11 92.1 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 20,332 19 3,838 10 93.4 
			 Bedfordshire 51,651 19 6,578 8 93.6 
			 Bexley 31,442 21 4,911 11 93.0 
			 Birmingham 140,769 21 39,297 12 92.4 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 21,379 22 3,973 14 92.6 
			 Blackpool 17,452 22 4,028 13 92.0 
			 Bolton 36,109 20 5,860 15 93.4 
			 Bournemouth 17,480 20 2,928 7 93.4 
			 Bracknell Forest 12,382 18 1,972 9 93.8 
			 Bradford 64,625 19 25,293 12 92.6 
			 Brent 28,999 21 5,741 10 92.9 
			 Brighton and Hove 25,231 22 6,224 12 92.2 
			 Bristol, City of 39,959 23 11,886 15 91.3 
			 Bromley 37,486 20 7,482 12 93.1 
			 Buckinghamshire 58,283 17 6,847 12 94.3 
			 Bury 24,429 19 3,860 10 93.8 
			 Calderdale 27,343 20 4,974 9 93.6 
			 Cambridgeshire 65,190 19 11,320 10 93.3 
			 Camden 15,632 23 4,629 12 91.5 
			 Cheshire 84,589 18 13,295 13 93.9 
			 Cornwall 62,898 21 9,994 8 92.8 
			 Coventry 38,885 23 5,451 13 92.3 
			 Croydon 39,205 22 10,189 11 92.4 
			 Cumbria 62,095 19 9,001 11 93.8 
			 Darlington 12,296 23 1,316 18 92.3 
			 Derby City 30,258 21 6,842 13 92.7 
			 Derbyshire 93,928 20 19,086 11 93.4 
			 Devon 82,585 20 15,437 10 93.1 
			 Doncaster 40,130 22 8,991 13 92.3 
			 Dorset 46,206 19 6,192 9 93.5 
			 Dudley 42,356 21 6,856 12 92.8 
			 Durham 62,598 22 6,211 12 92.8 
			 Ealing 31,320 20 4,445 11 93.1 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 41,856 20 5,750 10 93.5 
			 East Sussex 56,132 19 14,364 10 93.1 
			 Enfield 37,968 20 13,889 12 92.4 
			 Essex 167,654 20 27,392 11 93.1 
			 Gateshead 22,882 21 2,925 15 93.1 
			 Gloucestershire 70,961 19 7,520 11 93.7 
			 Greenwich 26,943 21 11,100 15 91.7 
			 Hackney 19,410 21 7,055 15 92.1 
			 Halton 16,628 21 3,717 19 92.2 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 12,722 21 3,002 16 92.1 
			 Hampshire 150,092 18 27,073 12 93.8 
			 Haringey 26,570 20 12,017 12 91.8 
			 Harrow 24,991 20 2,800 9 93.4 
			 Hartlepool 12,657 19 3,196 16 93.2 
			 Havering 31,577 20 3,738 10 93.0 
			 Herefordshire 20,743 19 2,835 11 93.7 
			 Hertfordshire 134,247 19 20,499 11 93.7 
			 Hillingdon 32,489 21 9,099 12 92.4 
			 Hounslow 26,953 19 7,856 12 92.9 
			 Isle of Wight 16,398 22 2,147 14 92.4 
			 Isles of Scilly 214 17 79 6 93.5 
			 Islington 19,050 21 7,527 11 92.0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 8,202 19 2,395 10 93.1 
			 Kent 171,884 20 23,907 12 93.3 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 34,655 23 9,433 17 91.2 
			 Kingston upon Thames 15,906 19 1,679 10 93.7 
			 Kirklees 52,205 19 10,747 12 93.4 
			 Knowsley 21,427 23 5,657 20 91.5 
			 Lambeth 21,618 19 7,033 9 93.1 
			 Lancashire 146,327 20 19,805 13 93.5 
			 Leeds 89,166 21 21,540 15 92.5 
			 Leicester City 38,771 21 12,139 16 92.0 
			 Leicestershire 80,182 19 12,594 14 93.6 
			 Lewisham 26,789 19 10,890 12 92.6 
			 Lincolnshire 82,913 19 12,184 11 93.6 
			 Liverpool 57,430 24 12,316 16 91.7 
			 London, City of 170 17 0 0 94.7 
			 Luton 27,104 22 5,605 10 92.5 
			 Manchester 52,019 24 12,829 16 91.4 
			 Medway 36,808 21 6,359 10 93.0 
			 Merton 16,915 21 3,935 11 92.8 
			 Middlesbrough 18,585 24 3,872 11 91.9 
			 Milton Keynes 28,668 21 4,396 9 93.2 
			 Newbury 19,399 24 2,981 17 91.9 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 29,416 17 4,942 9 93.6 
			 Newham 35,746 21 16,931 11 92.7 
			 Norfolk 95,378 22 19,621 14 92.2 
			 North East Lincolnshire 23,120 21 4,891 10 93.1 
			 North Lincolnshire 20,887 20 3,815 15 93.2 
			 North Somerset 22,949 20 3,503 16 93.5 
			 North Tyneside 23,607 18 2,408 10 94.0 
			 North Yorkshire 72,758 20 8,109 11 93.0 
			 Northamptonshire 86,330 21 17,324 13 93.2 
			 Northumberland 38,763 22 2,793 16 91.8 
			 Nottingham City 31,294 20 8,503 15 92.9 
			 Nottinghamshire 96,572 21 19,248 13 92.6 
			 Oldham 32,869 18 7,737 10 93.7 
			 Oxfordshire 69,733 21 14,085 11 93.0 
			 Peterborough City 23,508 21 4,907 10 92.9 
			 Plymouth 32,297 18 4,266 10 93.5 
			 Poole 15,953 20 3,448 12 92.4 
			 Portsmouth 21,949 20 6,025 15 92.7 
			 Reading 13,228 18 2,768 10 93.6 
			 Redbridge 32,332 21 8,007 13 93.0 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 19,775 18 2,992 16 93.4 
			 Richmond upon Thames 16,657 21 3,569 13 92.7 
			 Rochdale 28,286 21 7,157 14 92.7 
			 Rotherham 36,857 17 7,338 13 94.4 
			 Rutland 4,346 22 345 14 91.8 
			 Salford 28,092 24 7,358 15 91.3 
			 Sandwell 40,336 20 7,937 12 93.3 
			 Sefton 36,540 21 4,255 15 92.3 
			 Sheffield 61,795 19 16,686 7 93.8 
			 Shropshire 35,004 19 4,247 13 92.9 
			 Slough 15,684 18 3,999 12 93.7 
			 Solihull 29,841 19 4,244 11 93.3 
			 Somerset 61,448 19 7,924 9 93.4 
			 South Gloucestershire 33,294 22 7,974 10 92.8 
			 South Tyneside 19,548 22 2,412 14 92.1 
			 Southampton 25,571 20 5,030 15 92.8 
			 Southend-on-Sea 21,153 18 4,216 12 92.7 
			 Southwark 26,935 22 13,369 18 93.0 
			 St Helens 22,410 19 2,950 10 93.6 
			 Staffordshire 105,022 19 15,492 10 93.7 
			 Stockport 35,473 21 6,084 15 93.3 
			 Stockton on Tees 25,194 20 2,467 14 92.7 
			 Stoke on Trent 29,934 19 7,397 13 93.5 
			 Suffolk 81,873 23 14,165 15 92.6 
			 Sunderland 38,199 18 4,447 11 93.6 
			 Surrey 111,866 18 18,997 10 93.8 
			 Sutton 23,679 19 3,532 11 93.8 
			 Swindon 24,412 22 3,022 9 93.1 
			 Tameside 30,755 21 4,549 9 93.1 
			 The Wrekin 22,289 20 3,067 13 92.4 
			 Thurrock 19,554 20 4,465 10 92.9 
			 Torbay 15,746 18 4,196 9 92.7 
			 Tower Hamlets 28,361 18 14,674 12 94.3 
			 Trafford 27,769 21 2,940 11 92.9 
			 Wakefield 42,799 23 9,397 11 92.2 
			 Walsall 38,143 20 7,503 12 93.0 
			 Waltham Forest 27,687 22 6,816 10 92.8 
			 Wandsworth 20,154 18 5,153 10 94.1 
			 Warrington 25,992 19 4,256 12 93.6 
			 Warwickshire 62,174 19 7,632 10 93.7 
			 West Sussex 89,031 19 12,737 10 93.4 
			 Westminster, City of 14,724 19 5,338 10 92.9 
			 Wigan 41,821 21 4,535 13 93.3 
			 Wiltshire 54,251 19 7,933 9 93.7 
			 Windsor & Maidenhead 15,319 18 3,431 8 93.9 
			 Wirral 42,322 20 4,600 14 93.4 
			 Wokingham 19,181 18 2,451 10 94.0 
			 Wolverhampton 31,702 22 5,819 14 92.3 
			 Worcestershire 65,012 20 8,738 12 93.4 
			 York, City of 19,800 19 4,030 12 93.6 
			 Total 6,183,071 20 1,196,333 12 93.1 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures relate to maintained primary and secondary schools but exclude maintained special schools and CTCs.
	2. Figures cover pupils that were absent between September 1997 and May 1998, and September 2002 and May 2003.

School Buses

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many serious accidents have occurred on school bus journeys in England in the last five years as a consequence of the behaviour of pupils travelling unsupervised on the bus.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 29 January 2004
	Road accident statistics are a matter for the Department for Transport. Their road accident statistics do not record whether bus accidents affecting children occur on school buses or public service buses, or record the causes of accidents.

School Meals and Trips

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in Essex were provided by the county council with school meals in each year from 1990 to 2003.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is not available centrally.
	The Department collects information on free school meals as part of the annual schools' Census, but not the total number of all (that is, free and paid for) school meals.

School Meals and Trips

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had on introducing charitable status for the provision of (a) school meals and (b) school trips.

Stephen Twigg: My Department has not had any discussions about introducing charitable status for the provision of school meals or school trips.

Training and Enterprise Council

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place the audited statutory accounts for Training and Enterprise Council in England for financial year ending 25 March 2001 in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I have made arrangements for copies of the audited statutory accounts for the 72 TECs in England to be placed in the Library.

Undergraduates (Bankruptcy)

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many undergraduate students in England have declared themselves bankrupt in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 29 January 2004
	The following table shows the number of student loan borrowers, both graduates and undergraduates, who have had bankruptcy orders made against them since 1992. There are no figures showing undergraduates as a separate group.
	
		
			 Bankrupt year(19) Number of borrowers(20) , (21) , (22) , (23) 
		
		
			 1992 8 
			 1993 13 
			 1994 22 
			 1995 40 
			 1996 49 
			 1997 77 
			 1998 97 
			 1999 142 
			 2000 153 
			 2001 249 
			 2002 276 
			 2003 (24)899 
			 Total 2,025 
		
	
	(19) Calendar year in which the borrower became bankrupt.
	(20) Data show the number of student loan borrowers.
	(21) Includes borrowers who may or may not have graduated from their course.
	(22) Includes all types of students (including PGCE—Postgraduate Certificate of Education students).
	(23) Data cover both types of student loan—Mortgage Style (including loans sold to the private sector) and Income Contingent.
	(24) The increase in the numbers of bankruptcies in 2003 seems to be as a result of greater public awareness that students loans are provable in bankruptcy.
	Source:
	Student Loans Company.

University of Lincolnshire and Humberside

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) reports he has received and (b) action he has taken in response to the termination of the University of Humberside enrolment programme in July 1999.

Alan Johnson: I assume my hon. Friend is referring to the actions taken in July 1999 by the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside to terminate its recruitment to franchised courses in Israel. I have received no report or taken any action. However, I understand that the University (now entitled the University of Lincoln) has been cooperating with the relevant authorities in Israel and is keeping the Higher Education Funding Council for England informed of any developments.

University of Lincolnshire and Humberside

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many branches of the University of Humberside have been established since its franchise operation was first introduced; and in which countries.

Alan Johnson: The Department does not maintain lists of the overseas franchise arrangements of UK universities. However, I am aware that that the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside (now renamed University of Lincoln) ceased recruitment to all of its overseas franchise operations in 2000.

University Overseas Franchises

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which universities have established overseas franchise operations; and which overseas universities, colleges and other bodies have agreed to facilitate these partnerships.

Alan Johnson: The Department does not maintain lists of the overseas franchise arrangements of UK universities. However, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) carries out audits which cover the arrangements by which an awarding institution secures the standards of its awards and the effectiveness of its quality management arrangements for partnership links both within and outside the UK. Since 1996 it has audited 109 overseas collaborative links involving 64 HEIs in 24 countries.

Working Skills

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people in the working age population in the West Midlands with no qualifications.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 26 January 2004
	We are committed to raising the skill levels of adults in the workforce, and in particular, supporting adults with no, or low qualifications to gain qualifications that give them the foundation skills for employability.
	The Skills Strategy White Paper, "21st Century Skills Realising Our Potential", published in July last year, set out a number of key measures to address this issue. And we have already put in place support for adults with basic skill needs through our Skills for Life Strategy.
	The White Paper announced the introduction of a new entitlement to free learning for all those studying for their first full level 2 qualification as foundation for employability. We have begun to pilot the introduction of a new adult learning grant of up to £30 a week for full time learners studying for their first NVQ Level 2 qualification or equivalent.
	We have also put in place a strategy to ensure that low-skilled adults receive high quality information, advice and guidance to help them choose the right course for them.
	We are running 12 Employer Training Pilots, of which two are in the West Midlands, to encourage employers to invest in skills and qualifications, particularly for low skilled trainees. They are testing out a package of financial support measures to improve access to training and enable employees to develop basic skills and NVQ level 2 qualifications.
	In the West Midlands, six professional development centres have been established as a result of partnerships between the local LSCs and the Universities of Wolverhampton, Warwick, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. These are aimed at providing support and opportunities for all those working across the spectrum of Skills for Life delivery—teachers, voluntary sector workers and those working in Adult and Community Learning.
	We are working nationally to engage employers in activity to address the basic skills needs of their employees. This includes raising demand in the workplace and ensuring that appropriate advice and guidance is available to employers to help them establish the learning programmes they require for their employees. In the West Midlands, we have established a group of employer champions who will push the message that basic skills are important to other employers.
	Advantage West Midlands has responded to our invitation to RDAs and their regional partners to draw up proposals for Regional Skills Partnerships. The Partnerships aim to ensure that the work of different agencies involved in delivering the aims of the Skills Strategy—the Learning and Skills Councils, Jobcentre Plus, the Skills for Business network, the Small Business Service and others—are better co-ordinated and delivered in a way that connects with the needs of employers at individual and regional, local and sectoral levels. We will be talking to Advantage West Midlands about their proposal and their plans to set up the Partnership in the West Midlands in April 2004.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Voting Age

Bob Spink: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how the outcome of the review on lowering the age of voting will be communicated to the House.

Peter Viggers: On the day of publication of its report on the age of voting and of candidacy, the Electoral Commission will send a copy to each Member of Parliament and will place copies in the Library.

Local Government Finance

Bill O'Brien: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment is made of the effect on grant allocations and inward investment consequent on levels of deprivation in local authority wards when boundary reviews are being carried out; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Viggers: None. While a number of agencies use local authority ward boundaries as a convenient basis for the allocation of grant aid and regeneration funding, such considerations do not fall within the scope of the matters which are taken into account in carrying out boundary reviews.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burundi

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that the Government of Burundi does not offer an amnesty for crimes against humanity committed against British and other nationals during the civil war; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: The violation of human rights and international humanitarian law in Burundi continues to be of serious concern. While we cannot dictate the terms of any eventual ceasefire between the parties to the conflict in Burundi, we are working closely with the international community on the issue of post-conflict justice in Burundi and how best to bring an end to impunity.
	In this respect, we support the proposal of the United Nations to send an assessment mission to Burundi, which is to consider the advisability and feasibility of establishing an international commission of judicial inquiry for Burundi.
	In respect of crimes committed against British nationals, we continue to raise individual cases with the Burundi authorities.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 17 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Ahmed.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 20 January.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 15 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to S. Rahman.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 12 January.

Council of Europe

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution was made by the United Kingdom to the Council of Europe in 2003–04.

Denis MacShane: In 2003, the UK's contributions to the Council of Europe totalled Euro 27,023,466. This breaks down into 10 strands:
	
		Contributions made by the United Kingdom to the Council of Europe in 2003 -- Euro
		
			 Budget Government Department Amount 
		
		
			 Ordinary budget Foreign and Commonwealth Office 21,918.076 
			 Pensions Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2,197,145 
			 Extraordinary budget (buildings) Foreign and Commonwealth Office 501,787 
			 European Youth Foundation Foreign and Commonwealth Office 311,238 
			 Venice Commission Foreign and Commonwealth Office 405,318 
			 Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health Field Department of Health 287,889 
			 European Pharmacopoeia Department of Health 691,424 
			 Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group) Home Office 241,215 
			 Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Group of States against Corruption Home Office 235,775 
			 Graz Centre Department for Education and Skills 233,600 
		
	
	In 2004 the UK's contributions to the Council of Europe will total Euro 28,356,459. This breaks down into 10 strands:
	
		Contributions to be made by the United Kingdom to the Council of Europe in 2004 -- Euro
		
			 Budget Government Department Amount 
		
		
			 Ordinary budget Foreign and Commonwealth Office 22,376,585 
			 Pensions Foreign and Commonwealth Office 3,060,401 
			 Extraordinary budget (buildings) Foreign and Commonwealth Office 497.665 
			 European Youth Foundation Foreign and Commonwealth Office 337,136 
			 Venice Commission Foreign and Commonwealth Office 375,414 
			 Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health Field Department of Health 259,132 
			 European Pharmacopoeia Department of Health 681,760 
			 Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group) Home Office 249,773 
			 Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Group of States against Corruption Home Office 287,213 
			 Graz Centre Department for Education and Skills 231,381

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended, (c) dismissed, (d) prosecuted and (e) convicted for involvement in benefit fraud in each of the last six years; and what the amounts involved were in each of the categories listed.

Mike O'Brien: As far as the Department is aware no staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been investigated, suspended or dismissed for benefit fraud in the last six years. Under Diplomatic and Home Service Regulations, all staff are obliged to tell the Department if they are charged with any criminal offence. According to departmental records, none have been prosecuted or convicted for benefit fraud in the last six years.

Mr. Craig Alden

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the detention of Mr. Craig Alden in Brazil.

Chris Mullin: Staff at our Embassy in Brasilia closely monitor developments in Mr. Alden's case and provide him with all the consular assistance they properly can. We have raised our interest in his case with the Brazilian authorities on a number of occasions, including when my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met the Brazilian Foreign Minister in July 2003. Consular staff at our Embassy also raise any welfare aspects of the case with the local authorities, most recently with the new Federal Director of Prisons in November 2003.
	Under international law we cannot interfere in the judicial processes of another country. Mr Alden's lawyers continue to pursue his case through legal channels and keep our consular staff updated of developments. We understand his lawyers have decided to submit a second habeas corpus application. As the legal case proceeds we will continue to offer the appropriate consular assistance to Craig and his family.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken to promote use of the World Service in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Bill Rammell: The Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) jams radio broadcasts from outside the country. Short wave would be the main frequency for BBC World Service, but short wave radios are illegal in DPRK. We urge DPRK to remove the restrictions on access to information and freedom of expression by its people.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking in bilateral talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to further the protection of human rights there.

Bill Rammell: We are concerned about reports of serious human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The lack of access for independent monitors makes it difficult to verify these reports. We raise human rights issues regularly with the DPRK authorities via our embassy in Pyongyang and the DPRK embassy in London. We also encourage DPRK to comply with the recommendations set out in the resolution adopted at last year's UN Commission on Human Rights. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) sponsored two DPRK officials to attend a human rights training course at Essex University in 2002, and proposed a visit by the Head of the FCO's Human Rights Policy Department in 2003. The latter has yet to be granted.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking within the (a) EU and (b) UN to further the protection of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Bill Rammell: The EU has been closely monitoring the human rights situation in North Korea, and having seen little evidence of improvement in recent years, tabled a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in 2003. The resolution expressed concern at reports of serious and continued human rights violations in North Korea, and called on DPRK to co-operate with the UN human rights machinery. The resolution was adopted by the largest majority of any country-specific resolution.

Energy Efficiency Programmes

David Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) green and (b) energy efficiency programmes are pursued by his Department in (i) the UK and (ii) missions abroad.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 22 January 2004
	The FCO has established Environmental Management Systems (EMS) across most of its UK estate. The system covering our London Offices has been certified to ISO 14001 and covers 75 per cent. of UK based staff. We will extend this to 95 per cent. in 2004 by including our Hanslope Park site.
	The EMS aims to improve the FCO's environmental performance. Examples of improvements already made include:
	100 per cent. of electricity used in the Main Building is from renewable sources.
	The range of waste recycled now includes fluorescent tubes, paper, unsaleable furniture, and toner cartridges. A new waste contract in 2004 will extend the range of waste recycled in line with Government targets.
	We have implemented revised government policy on the purchase of sustainable timber. We also purchase a range of energy-efficient equipment and office supplies. All major contracts are evaluated against environmental performance.
	All new FCO buildings, in the UK and overseas are designed to comply with best practice, including sustainable development issues.
	In the UK, we have met the interim Government energy target of reducing carbon emissions from buildings through closer temperature control, and the purchase of renewable energy for the Main Building. This also helped us meet the target for the purchase of energy exempt from the climate change levy.
	Overseas Posts are required to apply the same environmental principles where possible. Some have undertaken local environmental initiatives. But it would be impracticable to apply the full UK programme with immediate effect to all 232 Posts in the overseas estate.

European Commission (Defence Research)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is the Government's policy to support defence research and development expenditure by the European Commission.

Denis MacShane: The UK supports a European Security and Defence Policy, where the responsibility for decisions relating to defence, including research and development, rests primarily with Member States (Articles 13 and 17 of the Treaty on European Union). The Government recognises the need to consider the scope for co-operation with the Community's civil research programmes. The Community's programmes, under Article 163 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), cover "promoting all the research activities deemed necessary by virtue of other chapters of this Treaty [the TEC]". In this context, in November 2003, the General Affairs and External Relations Council agreed to create an Agency, under the authority of the Council, whose responsibilities would include "promoting, in liaison with the Community's research activities where appropriate, research aimed at fulfilling future defence and security capabilities requirements".

Immigration

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people entered the UK from (a) Papua New Guinea, (b) Jordan and (c) East Timor in the latest year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply. 
	The latest available information shows that a total of 22,200 Jordanian nationals were admitted to the United Kingdom during 2002.
	I regret that is not possible to identify nationals of Papua New Guinea and East Timor separately in our admission statistics.
	Data on passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom are published in the Command Paper 'Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002' (Cm6053), obtainable from the Library, The Stationery Office and via the Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hobpubs1.html

Iraq

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many personnel are serving with the Iraq Survey Group in Iraq; of those how many are British; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: There are, at present, 1,272 personnel serving with the Iraq Survey Group. Of these, 52 are British. These figures may change on an almost daily basis due to the regular roulement of staff. Over the past nine months there has been an average of approximately 1,400 personnel. Figures for British personnel vary according to the availability of suitably qualified staff.

Latvia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Latvian Government concerning prospects for a referendum on the proposed European Constitution in Latvia; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed with the Latvian government prospects for a referendum on the draft EU Constitutional Treaty. Our Embassy in Riga follows Latvian Government policy on this and other issues. The Latvian Government has said that it has no plans for a referendum.

Middle East

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with EU colleagues about (a) trade policy towards Israel and (b) aid policy towards the Palestinian territories; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: EU Foreign Ministers regularly discuss Israel and the Palestinian territories at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in the context of our discussions on the Middle East Peace Process.
	EU Foreign Ministers discussed the EU position for the EU/Israel Association Council at the GAERC on 17 November 2003. The Association Council discusses political and economic issues, including trade. EU Ministers in December agreed to further liberalisation of agricultural trade between the EU and Israel and on 1 January 2004 this round of liberalisation came into force.
	I discussed with EU colleagues aid policy towards the Palestinian territories at the GAERC on 29 September 2003. As stated in the Council conclusions, "the EU, as the largest donor to the Palestinian territories, supported the Quartet's call on the International and Regional Community to assist the Palestinian Authority in the implementation of reforms, institution-building and socio-economic development".

Middle East

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times since 1997 UK officials have raised human rights concerns and the plight of the Palestinians with Israeli officials; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: We have frequently lobbied the Government of Israel since 1997 about human rights concerns and the plight of the Palestinians. But many of the details of this lobbying are no longer held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. However, our lobbying has increased since the start of the intifada in September 2000.
	Among the issues raised on many occasions in 2003 were:
	civilian casualties;
	targeted assassinations;
	demolitions;
	confiscation of land;
	prisoners held in administrative detention;
	impact of the fence and "closed zone";
	settlements and outposts;
	inappropriate behaviour by the Israel Defence Forces and rules of engagement;
	checkpoints and other internal barriers;
	the closure and curfew regimes;
	the hindrance to the movement of humanitarian aid;
	access problems for humanitarian workers and other essential staff;
	movement restrictions of dual nationals.
	Separately, we have also raised issues concerning the Bedouin and Arab Israelis.

Mr. Robert Ellis

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 20 January 2004, Official Report, column 1162W, on Mr. Robert Ellis, what the nature was of the representations made and of the response given during the discussion of the case of Mr. Robert Ellis that took place between the Minister of State and the Head of the Turkish European Secretariat General in Ankara on 13 January.

Denis MacShane: As I said in my answer of 20 January and in my letter of 7 January to the right hon. Member, Robert Ellis has received an extraordinary level of support from British Ministers and our diplomatic, commercial and consular network in Turkey. My own meeting with the European Union Secretariat General in Ankara on 13 January was simply the most recent occasion on which we drew attention to our continuing interest in this case. Our concerns were noted.

Pakistan

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Pakistan's adherence to UN Security Council Resolution 1373.

Jack Straw: Pakistan has submitted three reports to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee, showing commitment and real progress in meeting the requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. Pakistan has signed or ratified 10 of the 12 anti-terrorism conventions, and is an important partner on counter-terrorism. We are encouraged by Pakistan's efforts and will continue to work closely with Pakistan in this area.

Security Council Resolutions

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of international compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1373; which countries have not fully complied; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) was established in order to encourage and ensure global compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373. The CTC works to promote full implementation of the Resolution by UN member states in a transparent and effective manner. All member states are engaged in this process. Reaching full compliance is an ongoing process with long-term action for many States. The CTC's monitoring of this is continuous.
	The CTC reviews and replies to states' reports, which outline the domestic provisions in place and the progress made in fighting terrorism in accordance with the Resolution. In addition to reviewing and replying to states' reports, the CTC promotes compliance with Resolution 1373 by facilitating technical assistance to states, and encouraging co-operation with international and regional bodies to strengthen counter-terrorism capacity building globally.
	The Committee is currently reviewing its reporting requirements and mechanism in an effort to encourage fuller and more timely reporting, and further substantive progress, from all member states. The UK remains a strong and active supporter of this effort.

Taiwan

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the country-specific visa code is for Taiwan nationals.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 26 January 2004
	I have been asked to reply.
	The country-specific code used to identify nationals from Taiwan is TWN. This is based on ISO3166 data from UN Statistics Division List 31 July 2003, and International Civil Aviation Organisation Code List 11 February 2003.

Terrorism

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the states which have (a) signed and (b) ratified the International Convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: To date, 105 states have ratified the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism convention, while a further 46 are signatories. The UK signed it on 10 January 2000 and ratified it on 7 March 2001. Further information on which countries have signed and ratified, and when they did, is available on the UN website: www.untreaty.un.org.
	This convention is an important instrument imposing international standards for countering the financing of terrorism. The UK actively encourages international partners to ratify and fully implement its provisions, including through the EU, G8 and the UN.
	United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 calls on all states to adhere to the suppression of the financing of terrorism convention, as well as a number of other counter-terrorism measures, including the UN's 11 other counter-terrorism conventions. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee monitors member states' adherence to Resolution 1373, including ratifying and implementing the conventions.

HEALTH

"Agenda for Change"

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the projected total (a) wage and (b) administration costs for implementation of the "Agenda for Change" are; and whether these costs have changed after evaluation of the 12 early implementer sites.

John Hutton: The total annual costs of the proposed new national health service pay system, "Agenda for Change", in England are estimated to be just under £1 billion by 2005–06 (compared with costs in 2002–03). The Department of Health, NHS employer representatives and NHS trades unions are monitoring closely the cost impact in the 12 'early implementer' sites, but it is too early to re-assess the national cost estimates in the light of experience in these sites. The cost estimate excludes non-recurrent costs involved in implementing the new system, which are difficult to estimate accurately and are being tested through the 'early implementer' process.

"Agenda for Change"

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been allocated to each (a) primary care trust, (b) acute and specialist hospital trust, (c) mental health trust, (d) ambulance trust and (e) strategic health authority in England for each of the next five years to implement the "Agenda for Change" programme.

John Hutton: Additional funding, worth 0.8 per cent. of main allocations, has been allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) in 2004–05 and a further 0.8 per cent. in 2005–06 to cover the costs of implementing "Agenda for Change" in acute and specialist hospital trusts, mental health trusts, ambulance trusts and PCTs themselves. Funding for implementation costs in strategic health authorities is currently being assessed but has not yet been allocated.

"Agenda for Change"

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of developing the nationally agreed job profiles for the "Agenda for Change" programme has been.

John Hutton: National job profiles for the proposed new national health service pay system, "Agenda for Change", have been developed in partnership between representatives of the United Kingdom Health Departments, the NHS Modernisation Agency, NHS trade unions and NHS employing organisations. It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the costs incurred by these organisations in releasing staff for this purpose.

"Agenda for Change"

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on knowledge and skills framework training for staff and managers in the 12 early implementer sites as part of the "Agenda for Change" programme; and what his estimate is of the total cost to the NHS of knowledge and skills framework staff training;
	(2)  how much has been spent on job evaluation training for staff and managers in the 12 early implementer sites as part of the "Agenda for Change" programme; and what his estimate is of the total cost to the NHS for staff training in job evaluation.

John Hutton: The direct costs so far incurred centrally in providing training in use of the proposed new national health service job evaluation system and NHS knowledge and skills framework are around £256,000. This excludes the costs incurred by NHS organisations in making staff available to receive training.

"Agenda for Change"

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in the 12 early implementer sites have had a reduction in pay consequent on the "Agenda for Change" programme; and how many staff in the NHS (a) immediately after implementation and (b) after April 2011 will have a reduction in pay consequent on the programme.

John Hutton: As a result of agreed pay protection arrangements, none of the national health service staff in the 12 'early implementer' sites will have had a reduction in pay as a result of the "Agenda for Change" pay modernisation programme, nor will any other NHS staff receive a reduction in pay after implementation of the proposed new pay system. Where, in a minority of cases, staff need to have their pay protected, there will be a review of their skills, knowledge and role as soon as possible during the period of protection. This will be used to assess whether they can be re-assigned to a more highly weighted job or offered development and training to fit them for a more highly weighted job. This is designed to keep to an absolute minimum the number of staff, if any, who are still covered by the protection arrangements immediately before those expire in April 2011.

Agency Staff

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 13 January 2004, Official Report, column 708W, on agency staff, if he will estimate the cost of fraud covered by criminal prosecutions; and what extrapolation has been made from these figures of the wider cost of timesheet fraud.

John Hutton: The value of detected fraud amounts to £33,465 in those cases resulting in criminal prosecution of agency staff. No wider, meaningful extrapolation can be made from this figure.

Bournemouth and Christchurch (NHS Trust)

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust had its Commission for Health Improvement assessment reduced from three stars to two stars in July 2003.

John Hutton: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals national health service trust received a two star rating in July 2002 because its clinical governance review report from the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) did not show enough strengths to allow a three star rating to be awarded by the Department of Health. The trust was awarded a three star rating by CHI in July 2003.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Dental Manpower Review will be published.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 13 January 2004
	We have now completed the first review of the dental workforce since 1987 and plan shortly to publish the report with the Government's response to its findings.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the progress primary care trusts have made towards assuming responsibility for NHS dentistry in April 2005.

Rosie Winterton: Responsibility for administration of the general dental services arrangements passed from health authorities to primary care trusts (PCTs) in October 2002. The National Primary and Care Trust Development Programme (NatPaCT) published a dentistry competency framework to support PCTs during the transition.
	Proposals in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 for primary dental services will underpin a modernised, high-quality primary dental service provided through contracts between PCTs and dental practices, properly integrated with the rest of the national health service and providing better access to services with an improved patient experience. The NatPaCT programme will continue to support PCTs through to implementation in April 2005.
	The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act also provides for the replacement of the existing Dental Practice Board by a new special health authority for England and Wales with a wider remit for modernisation and change. This will happen in 2005. In the meantime, shadow arrangements are in place to work in partnership with the existing Dental Practice Board to lead the modernisation process and provide support to PCTs and dentists to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements.

Dentistry

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department (a) commissioned and (b) received the Dental Workforce Review; and when he will publish the review report.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 26 January 2004
	We commissioned the first Dental Workforce Review since 1987 in July 2001. It was completed last autumn and we plan shortly to publish the report with our response to its findings.

Epilepsy

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that the risks of misdiagnosis of epilepsy are minimised in local delivery of services.

Stephen Ladyman: We expect several related policies to help reduce the number of cases of misdiagnosis of epilepsy. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has already made its report of the National Clinical Audit of Epilepsy Related Death available to local national health service clinicians and organisations to help improve the management of epilepsy and epilepsy-related death. NICE is also planning to publish a clinical guideline for the diagnosis, management and treatment in July 2004 which will be available to the NHS to support improvements in services. Additionally, implementation of the clinical quality standards of the new general medical services contract from April 2004 will help improve the management of epilepsy in primary care. We are also developing the national service framework (NSF) for long term conditions which will focus on improving the standard of neurology services across England for conditions such as epilepsy. We currently plan to publish the NSF in December 2004 for implementation from 2005.

General Practitioners (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there are per head of population in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley.

Melanie Johnson: This information is not available in the format requested. However, information for the primary care trusts in Lancashire is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Primary care trust GPs per 100,000 population 
		
		
			 Blackburn with Darwen PCT 62 
			 Blackpool PCT 60 
			 Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT 56 
			 Chorley and South Ribble PCT 59 
			 Fylde PCT 56 
			 Hyndburn and Ribble Valley PCT 63 
			 Preston PCT 52 
			 West Lancashire PCT 55 
			 Wyre PCT 65 
		
	
	Sources:
	1. Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
	2. 2001 ONS Population Census.

GP Contract

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has made of the number of general practitioners who will opt out of night-time cover following the introduction of the new contract; and what contingency plans he has in place to tackle any reduction in cover.

John Hutton: Under the new general medical services contract, which is to be introduced from April 2004, general practitioners (GPs) will be able to opt-out completely from responsibility for care during the out-of-hours period and it will become a responsibility of the local primary care trust (PCT) who are working with local practices to establish how many intend to exercise this option. We expect that a large majority will exercise this right to opt out of responsibility for arranging out of hours services.
	Many GPs will still participate in the delivery of out-of-hours services organised under the auspices of the PCT. Patients will therefore continue to have access to a GP if their condition requires the attention of a doctor.
	These changes provide a challenge for PCTs, but they also provide an opportunity for PCTs to review and reconfigure the provision of out-of-hours services across their area and to co-ordinate this with other services including accident and emergency, social care and in-hours services such as national health service walk-in centres.

GP Contract

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what means a general practitioner practice can increase its level of funding.

John Hutton: The new general medical services contract funds practices on the basis of patient need and the range and quality of services provided. Practices can increase their funding by providing higher quality services and services that contribute to the expansion of primary care. United Kingdom expenditure on primary care services will rise from £6.1 billion in 2002–03 to £8.0 billion by 2005–06.

Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many general practitioners were appointed in the London borough of Havering in the last 12 months; and how many vacancies there were in that period;
	(2)  how many general practitioners are in practice in the Havering area.

John Hutton: A total of six general practitioners were appointed in Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) within the period between year end 2002 and June 2003.
	Figures for GP vacancies in the 12 month period up to 31 March 2003 are shown in table 1.
	GP numbers in Havering PCT are shown in table 2.
	
		1. GP vacancy numbers in Havering PCT(26), 2003
		
			  Headcount 
		
		
			 England total (25)3,245 
			 of which  
			 London total (25)459 
			 of which  
			 North East London SHA 104 
			 of which  
			 Havering PCT 10 
		
	
	(25) 1 PCT (Sutton and Merton PCT, South West London SHA) did not respond to the survey
	(26) Figures show total number of vacancies occurring at any time in the 12 month period up to 31 March 2003
	Note:
	No figures for PCTs are available before 2003 as previous years vacancy numbers were collected from health authorities
	Source:
	Department of Health GP Recruitment, Retention and Vacancy survey 2003
	
		2. General Medical Practitioners(27) within Havering PCT;2001—June 2003 -- Numbers (headcount)
		
			  2001 2002 June 2003 
		
		
			 England 31,835 32,292 33,082 
			 of which:
			 North East London SHA 908 954 969 
			 of which:
			 Havering PCT 122 124 130 
		
	
	(27) All Practitioners include QMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (para 52 SFA), PMS Other, GP Retainers and Flexible Career Scheme GPs Data as at 30 September 2001–02 and 30 June 2003
	Source:
	Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the operating costs of the NHS in the London borough of Havering were in the financial year 2003–04.

John Hutton: Audited final accounts figures for the financial year 2003–2004 will not be available until Autumn 2004.
	However, Havering's total personal social services budget for 2003–04 is £56.667 million, 4.8 per cent., more than its forecast outturn for 2002–03. The 2003–04 national average increase in expenditure is 11.7 per cent.
	Havering Primary Care Trust's allocation for 2003–04 is £214.0 million, a 7.2 per cent., increase in real terms and a 9.6 per cent., increase in cash terms.

Health Services (Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been allocated to NHS services in Chorley in each of the last three years.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 27 January 2004
	Allocations to the former South Lancashire Health Authority, 2001–02 and 2002–03, and Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust for 2003–04 are shown in the table.
	Up to the end of 2002–03 national health service services for Chorley were funded through the South Lancashire Health Authority which covers a wider region. From 2003–04 services are funded through Chorley and South Ribble PCT.
	Allocations were as follows.
	
		Allocations -- £000
		
			  South Lancashire Health Authority Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust 
		
		
			 2001–02 223,342 (28)— 
			 2002–03 247,205 (28)— 
			 2003–04 (28)— 171,696

Histopathology

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the vacancy (a) rates and (b) numbers for histopathology in (i) England and (ii) each region in each year since 1997.

John Hutton: The Department has collected vacancy data since 1999.
	Information showing the three-month vacancy rates and numbers for histopathology in England by Government office region between March 2001 and March 2003 has been placed in the Library. The individual specialty of histopathology was not collected in the vacancy surveys in 1999 and 2000.

Isolation Wards

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals have dedicated purpose-built isolation and infection control wards.

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many English NHS hospitals have dedicated infection control wards.

Melanie Johnson: Health Service Circular 2000/002 on the "Management and control of hospital infection" required trusts to undertake a risk assessment to determine appropriate provision of isolation facilities within each trust but these date were not collected centrally.
	The Chief Medical Officer published his report "Winning Ways—Working together to reduce Healthcare Associated Infection in England", in December 2003 and this states that "NHS Trust Chief Executives will ensure that, over time, there is appropriate provision of isolation facilities within their healthcare facilities".

Mental Health

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards meeting the National Service Framework for Mental Health in the areas of (a) early intervention, (b) support for carers and (c) waiting times for mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Good progress is being made with implementing the national service framework for mental health.
	As part of the programme to develop early intervention services, 27 early intervention teams have been put in place.
	In accordance with the national service framework for mental health standard six, carers of people with mental health problems are now entitled to an assessment of their caring, physical and mental health needs and to have their own written care plan. Services are also working towards employing 700 carer support workers by the end of the year.
	With the development of new community based mental health services such as crisis resolution teams, progress is also being made with reducing waiting times for mental health services.
	Information relating to waiting times for in-patient and out-patient mental health services has been placed in the Library.

Mental Health

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards the target to (a) reduce the duration of untreated psychosis to a service median of less than three months and (b) provide support for the first three years for all young people who develop a first episode of psychosis, by 2004.

Rosie Winterton: In line with the commitments outlined in the "NHS Plan" and the "Priorities and Planning Framework 2003–06", early intervention services are being developed across England. As part of this, 27 early intervention teams have been put in place to provide care and treatment for young people who develop a first episode of psychosis.
	It is envisaged that the duration of untreated psychosis will decrease as early intervention teams continue to develop across the country.

Mental Health

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition he uses of (a) mental health crisis resolution teams, (b) mental health assertive outreach teams, (c) mental health early intervention teams and (d) secure personality disorder places, as established by his Department; and how many of each there are.

Rosie Winterton: Detailed service specifications for crisis resolution, early intervention and assertive outreach teams are contained in the "Mental Health Policy Implementation Guide" (2001), which is available from the Department's web-site at www. doh.gov.uk/mentalhealth/implementationguide.htm.
	There are 238 assertive outreach, 132 crisis resolution and 27 early intervention teams currently in place in England.
	Secure personality disorder places are intended for those people who are assessed as dangerous as a result of a severe personality disorder. These services are being designed to treat those people who demonstrate a clear functional link between their personality disorder and their offending behaviour, and who pose a high risk to the public.
	A ten bed pilot unit is already in operation and there will be 140 more secure personality disorder places in Broadmoor and Rampton Hospitals by the end of the year.

Mental Health

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to extend the use of primary care models for treating mental health, with specific reference to the role of general practitioners.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 29 January 2004
	The Department of Health and the Royal College of General Practitioners have produced a framework for implementing a scheme for general practitioners with special interests. As part of this framework; guidelines for primary care trusts and staff have been developed to provide more specific recommendations for general practitioners with a special interest in mental health. These developments are in line with the NHS Plan commitment to recruit up to 1,000 general practitioners with special interests by 2004.
	The new general medical services contract offers new incentives and rewards for practices that meet prescribed quality standards in caring for people with mental health problems. Under the general medical services contract primary care trusts may commission enhanced services. Specialist care of people with depression has been identified as a national enhanced service. Primary care trusts may also commission local enhanced services to address locally identified needs.
	Services are also working towards the NHS Plan commitment to recruit up to 1,000 graduate mental health workers who are trained in brief therapy techniques of proven effectiveness to help general practitioners treat common mental health problems in primary care.

Midwives

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to reduce the three-month vacancy rate for midwives in London since March; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 1 December 2003
	In line with our policy of shifting the balance of power we have devolved more power to the frontline of the national health service to ensure that more decisions, such as staffing levels, could be made locally where they will have a greater impact on delivery. Responsibility for reducing vacancy rates now rests with strategic health authorities.
	Between 30 September 2000 and 30 September 2002 the number of midwives in London increased by 202.
	In 2003–04, £88,500 has been allocated to London work force development confederations to fund return to practice places for midwives.

Mobile Phones

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the health implications of (a) mobile phones and (b) mobile phone masts.

Melanie Johnson: On 21 January 2004, I wrote to all right hon. and hon. Members describing the current position as follows:
	Mobile phone technology and health issues have hit the headlines again following the publication of a scientific review by the National Radiological Protection Board's Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR). News headlines about such issues tend to raise the levels of people's concern and you may well receive inquiries about mobile phones or mobile phone base stations. I am glad to say that the report confirms the conclusions of the Stewart Report and there is no new evidence suggesting that mobile phone use is likely to cause ill health in the general population. In the words of AGNIR's carefully considered report:
	"The weight of evidence now available does not suggest that there are adverse health effects from exposures to RF fields below guideline levels, but the published research on RF exposures and health has limitations, and mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively short time. The possibility therefore remains open that there could be health effects from exposure to RF fields below guideline levels; hence continued research is needed."
	The rapid expansion of mobile phone telecommunications has brought with it huge benefits to individuals and the business community. Government are however taking seriously the concerns that people have that there might be health effects resulting from exposure to radiofrequency signals from this technology. It is for this reason that the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) was set up under the chairmanship of Sir William Stewart FRS, FRSE.
	Sir William's expert group published its report on Mobile Phones and Health in May 2000 and it can be read in full on the website (www.iegmp.org.uk). The overall conclusion was that
	"the balance of evidence to date suggests that exposures to RF (radiofrequency) radiation below guidelines do not cause health effects to the general population."
	They went on to say that the emerging new technology should be accompanied by appropriate research and that a further review of the evidence for potential health effects should be reviewed in three years or earlier if circumstances demand it. These were just two of the 30 or so Stewart recommendations that have subsequently been acted upon by Government Departments or by the appropriate agencies.
	The siting of base stations was identified by the Stewart group as an issue of some concern. When they examined all the scientific evidence they concluded that
	"there is no general risk to the health of people living near to base stations on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of guidelines."
	About 300 measurements undertaken by the Radiocommunications Agency (RA), now part of Ofcom, have confirmed that public exposures are very much lower than the widely accepted guidelines published by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). This information is available on the websites of these organisations: www.ofcom.org.uk and www.icnirp.de.
	Although the Stewart Group did not identify any adverse health effects caused by exposures by mobile phones or base stations they were aware that if people are unduly concerned about potential exposures then that in itself may affect their well-being. They made a number of recommendations, therefore, designed to provide more information about mobile phones and base stations. The Department of Health has produced a pair of leaflets and these can be seen on the Department's website www.doh.gov.uk/mobilephones. A description of work undertaken by various organisations since the Stewart Report has been written by Dr. John W. Stather of the NRPB entitled "Mobile Phones and Health—an Update". This article was published on the NRPB website http://www.nrpb.org/publications/bulletin/no3/article3.htm) in March 2003 and provides more detailed information on the issues.
	The sites of base stations in this country are now shown on the Sitefinder location of the Ofcom website www.ofcom.org.uk. Planning arrangements have been improved and a "Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development" has been developed with the aim of providing for more discussions between operators, local authorities and members of the public. The booklet and current planning arrangements (PPG8—Policy Planning Guidance on Telecommunications) can be found on the ODPM website www.planning.odpm. gov.uk.
	Over the last few years a number of groups have assessed the possible health effects of exposure to RF radiation such as from mobile phones and mobile phone masts. These include reports from Canada (1999), the Netherlands (2000), France (2001, 2003) and the British Medical Association (2001). These groups have come to broadly similar conclusions to the Stewart Report and have recommended further research. The new AGNIR review also supports the Stewart conclusions.
	Public interest in mobile phone base stations has been quite marked recently and a number of concerted campaigns against mobile phone masts have come to my attention. I am pleased that the AGNIR report has addressed this issue and concluded that
	"Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low, and the overall evidence indicates that they are unlikely to pose a risk to health."
	Having considered research issues, AGNIR has helpfully made a number of specific recommendations that aim to improve the quality and interpretability of future health-related research and current health research programmes.
	The Government, in conjunction with industry, are already sponsoring a £7.4 million research programme in this country on a number of important health related issues identified in the Stewart Report. The research is being carried out under the management of an independent Programme Management Committee. The research is mainly concerned with users of mobile phone handsets as recommended in the Stewart Report but has recently decided to extend its range of studies to accommodate concerns about exposures from base stations. Full details of the research studies and the committee membership can be found on the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research website: www.mthr.org.uk. This programme represents a significant contribution to a world-wide research effort encompassing the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Union, the United States and others.
	The Department continues to monitor research largely through the work of National Radiological Protection Board who have a statutory duty to advise on risks from all types of radiation. The AGNIR report was placed on the NRPB web site on 14 January 2004 http://www.nrpb.org./ review/docs nrpb/absd14–2.htm

Nanoparticles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the potential for nanoparticles used in consumer goods to slip through membranes and lodge in the brain.

Patricia Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.
	My Department has not made any assessment of the potential for nanoparticles used in consumer goods to slip through membranes into the brain. We are aware that recent research has raised concerns in this area.
	Last year, my Department commissioned an independent study by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering to examine in detail the risks and benefits of nanotechnology. The study includes consideration of environmental, health and safety, ethical and social implications of the technology, both now and in the future, and its outcomes will be used to inform policy on what safeguards might be required, over and above existing legislation and guidance. We expect a report to Government in late spring 2004.

NHS Bereavement Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects his Department to undertake a follow-up survey on NHS bereavement services as outlined on the Chief Medical Officer's webpage.

Rosie Winterton: The Department plans to support a follow-up survey on national health service bereavement services in the spring of this year as outlined in the Chief Medical Officer's web page.

NHS Bereavement Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of the Department's survey of the scale and scope of NHS bereavement services.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's survey of bereavement services available in the national health service acute trusts was undertaken in the summer of 2001. A report of this survey is available on the Department's website at: www.doh.gov.uk/bereavement

NHS Governance

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what declaration of political affiliation health board convenors are required to make.

Rosie Winterton: The Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments requires that all candidates for appointment to non-executive positions on the boards of public bodies are asked to make a declaration on any political activity undertaken (as opposed to political affiliation). This is for monitoring purposes only and the information is not passed on to sifting and interview panels considering candidates for appointment. Complaints convenors who are also non-executives will therefore have been asked to make such a declaration. However, those who are not non-executives will not have been asked.

NHS Staff Council

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the costs (a) are of establishing and (b) were estimated to be in each of the next five years of running the NHS Staff Council.

John Hutton: There are not expected to be any additional costs involved in establishing or running the proposed new NHS Staff Council. The NHS Staff Council and the new Pay Negotiating Council for non-Review Body staff will between them replace the General Whitley Council and 11 functional Whitley Councils and other negotiating bodies for different national health service staff groups. This is expected to result in a more streamlined and efficient system for overseeing NHS pay issues and agreeing future changes to pay, terms and conditions.

Nursing and Midwifery Council

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the fee to nurses is for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council; and what it was in each of the last five years.

John Hutton: holding answer 30 January 2004
	The Nursing and Midwifery Council is an independent statutory body and this information is available directly from that organisation.

Performance Indicators

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many performance indicators were in place for NHS Trusts in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2001–02.

John Hutton: The independent Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) has published the set of indicators which will be used to rate national health service organisations in 2003–04.
	The number of indicators are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Acute and specialist trusts 44 
			 Ambulance trusts 24 
			 Mental health trusts 38 
			 Primary care trusts 42 
		
	
	The Department of Health published a limited set of performance indicators for 2001–02 in July 2002, as shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Acute trusts 37 
			 Specialist trusts 29 
			 Ambulance trusts 10 
			 Mental health trusts 16 
			 Primary care trusts (28)21 
		
	
	(28) Primary care trusts were measured against these indicators, but were not performance rated in 2001–02.

Post-mortems

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hospital and (b) coroners' post-mortems were carried out in each of the last 10 years.

John Hutton: Information on hospital post mortems is not collected centrally. The annual total of coroners' post mortems carried out in the period 1993–2002, the latest year for which information is available, is shown in the table.
	
		000s
		
			  Coroners post mortems 
		
		
			 1993 129.1 
			 1994 125.2 
			 1995 126.4 
			 1996 126.2 
			 1997 123.0 
			 1998 124.4 
			 1999 124.8 
			 2000 124.5 
			 2001 121.1 
			 2002 117.7

Respite Care (Children)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many projects he has visited that provide respite care that deal with children who are terminally ill.

Stephen Ladyman: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, has not had the opportunity to visit any projects whose sole remit is to provide respite care for terminally ill children. Should an opportunity arise to undertake such a visit, he would give it his full consideration.

Secure/Forensic Facilities

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the Department's aim to ensure appropriate use of secure and forensic facilities by 2004.

Rosie Winterton: As part of the Government's programme to modernise mental health services, an accelerated discharge programme is under way aimed at moving up to 400 patients from high security hospitals to more appropriate accommodation by 2004. The programme is on track to meet its target.

Acute Beds (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) stroke units and (b) acute beds there are in the NHS in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Information on beds is collected annually from each national health service trust. The average daily number of available acute beds for 2002–03 for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust was 1,142. Information on the number of stroke units is not held centrally.

Waiting Times

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to collect and publish information from NHS trusts on waiting times for diagnostic testing; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 January 2004
	Data are not collected specifically on waiting times for diagnostic tests. Waiting times are collected on the consultant's main specialty. There have been no substantive changes to the basis on which waiting times are calculated during the lifetime of this Government.
	The Government aims to improve access to diagnostic services and the Department is working in partnership with strategic health authorities and other stakeholders to ensure a responsive service.

Waiting Times

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish recent guidance which his Department has given to (a) health authorities and (b) NHS trusts on the recording of waiting times for (i) diagnostic tests and (ii) consultant to consultant referrals; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 January 2004
	There has been no recent guidance issued by the Department.
	The Department recently provided clarification on how angiographies should be recorded and reported.
	Information on the recording of waiting times is available on the Department's website. Further advice is available directly from the Department via its mailbox.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Anti-Social Behaviour

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 was not extended to Northern Ireland; and what discussions he had with his colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office during the Bill's passage through Parliament in relation to the extension of Part 8 to Northern Ireland.

Hazel Blears: The high hedges provisions were introduced into the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill following extensive consultation in England and Wales and after lengthy discussions in Parliament as several Private Members' Bills failed to become law. The consultation showed widespread support for legislation to give local authorities in England and Wales the powers to deal with complaints about high hedges.
	No similar consultation has been conducted in Northern Ireland and there is no solid evidence to suggest that legislation is necessary. We have kept our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office in touch with our proposals for England and Wales throughout.

Asylum Detention Centres

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the constituencies being considered for detention centres for asylum seekers.

Beverley Hughes: As part of the expansion of the detention estate we are exploring the possibility of various sites throughout the country. However we are at an early stage. As soon as we seriously consider any particular site we will put it into the public domain and the local MP(s) will be notified.

Asylum Seekers

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in each of the last five years of the administration of the National Asylum Support Service.

Beverley Hughes: The administration cost of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) for the last five years was as follows.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1998–99 (29)— 
			 1999–2000 (29)— 
			 2000–01 36 
			 2001–02 36 
			 2002–03 (30)— 
		
	
	(29) NASS was established as a separate directorate within Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) from 2000–01. Equivalent administration costs for prior years are not separately identifiable.
	(30) The actuals for 2002–03 are yet to be audited and published.

Asylum Seekers

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in each of the last five years of the support of asylum seekers under the 1999 legislation.

Beverley Hughes: The asylum support costs for the last five years was as follows:
	
		
			  Costs 
		
		
			 1998–99 475 
			 1999–2000 589 
			 2000–01 747 
			 2001–02 1,046 
			 2002–03 (31)— 
		
	
	(31) The actuals for 2002–03 are yet to be audited and published.

Asylum Seekers

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in each of the last five years of overseas transport for those asylum seekers deported and removed from the United Kingdom.

Beverley Hughes: The cost in each of the last five years of overseas transport for both asylum and non-asylum removals from the United Kingdom was as follows:
	
		
			  Total (£000) 
		
		
			 1998–99 4,384 
			 1999–2000 4,515 
			 2000–01 6,068 
			 2001–02 11,485 
			 2002–03 (32)— 
		
	
	(32) The actuals for 2002–03 are yet to be audited and published.

Asylum Seekers

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in each of the last five years of detention in (a) detention centres and (b) elsewhere.

Beverley Hughes: The cost in each of the last five years the cost of detention in detention centres and elsewhere for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate was as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 1998–99 10,219 
			 1999–2000 13,821 
			 2000–01 24,979 
			 2001–02 47,243 
			 2002–03 (33)— 
		
	
	(33) The actuals for 2002–03 are yet to be audited and published.
	These costs include both the actual costs of holding detainees and expenditure related to the expansion of the detention estate during this period. It is not possible to separate these costs.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the difference is between an induction centre and a detention centre; and if he will list those centres which are both induction and detention centres.

Beverley Hughes: Differences between induction centres and detention centres, which were renamed removal centres under section 66 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, are substantial. Induction Centres provide additional services for the asylum applicant, including health screening, and initiate the consideration of their asylum claim and support needs. Induction Centres provide short-term accommodation, where necessary, prior to dispersal. Accommodation and services are provided in a variety of buildings which are expected to have a low profile in the existing community. Asylum applicants staying in induction centres are not detained and are free to leave their accommodation. Removal centres provide safe and secure accommodation for those who are detained under immigration legislation. No facility acts as both a centre for induction and detention.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were removed from the UK in each month since January 2002; how many of these were part of the voluntary assisted return programme; to what countries individuals were returned; and how long they had been present in the UK before their repatriation.

Beverley Hughes: The number of asylum seekers removed from the United Kingdom in each month from January 2002 to September 2003 (the latest month for which data are available) is shown in the table.
	Of the 10,740 principal asylum applicants removed from the United Kingdom in 2002, 895 departed under the Voluntary Assisted Return Programmes (VARP). Information on the number of these who departed each month is not available. Data on the number departing under the VARP programmes in 2003 will be published at the end of August on the Home Office website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration.html
	Information on the destination of people removed from the UK and the length of time that they had been present here prior to departure is not available, except by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.
	Assisted Voluntary Returns aim to secure the dignified, safe and sustainable return of those who wish to leave the UK voluntarily. The International Organisation for Migration, which runs this programme on behalf of the Home Office, will assist the returnee prior to departure with counselling and independent advice. They will also help with travel arrangements, tickets etc.
	On arrival in their country of origin the returnee can receive, if they so choose, reintegration assistance worth up to approximately £500 (not cash). Reintegration assistance includes help in the country of origin to access existing services such as health, education and housing. Employment-related training and help to access available employment is also offered to enhance the sustainability of the return.
	
		Asylum Removals January 2002 to September 2003(34) , (35)
		
			 Month Principal applicants Dependants Total 
		
		
			 January 2002 855 155 1,050 
			 February 2002 865 150 1,015 
			 March 2002 725 135 860 
			 April 2002 860 165 1,025 
			 May 2002 955 180 1,135 
			 June 2002 845 230 1,075 
			 July 2002 970 245 1,215 
			 August 2002 995 310 1,305 
			 September 2002 845 295 1,135 
			 October 2002 945 340 1,285 
			 November 2002 965 370 1,335 
			 December 2002 920 550 1,470 
			 January 2003 770 390 1,160 
			 February 2003 890 455 1,350 
			 March 2003 955 525 1,480 
			 April 2003 1,025 395 1,420 
			 May 2003 1,175 405 1,580 
			 June 2003 945 335 1,285 
			 July 2003 1,230 395 1,630 
			 August 2003 1,075 390 1,470 
			 September 2003 1,120 435 1,560 
			 Total 19,935 6,900 26,835 
		
	
	(34) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
	(35) Provisional data.
	Note:
	Data are rounded to nearest five and may not sum due to rounding.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where the individuals who participated in the International Organisation for Migration voluntary assisted return programme returned to.

Beverley Hughes: Of the 10,740 principal asylum applicants removed from the United Kingdom in 2002, 895 departed under the Voluntary Assisted Return Programmes (VARP).
	Information on the nationality and destination of asylum seekers who leave under the VARP is not centrally available and could only be obtained by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.

Asylum Seekers

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young people up to 16 years were allowed to enter the United Kingdom from Somalia during 2003.

Beverley Hughes: The requested information is not available.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what conclusions the Department has reached on data collection methods for the assessment of the number of failed asylum seekers remaining in the UK.

Beverley Hughes: It is assumed that 'data collection' refers not to failed asylum seekers specifically but to work to assess the size of the illegally resident population in the UK. The Home Office has commissioned a review of methods used in other countries to estimate the size of their illegal populations. The research was commissioned in order to help define methods appropriate for the UK.
	The illegally resident population includes overstayers, clandestine entrants and workers in breach of their right to remain in the UK, as well as failed asylum seekers.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what target for the removal of failed asylum seekers has been set.

Beverley Hughes: Our Public Service Agreement target for asylum removals is to remove a greater proportion of failed asylum seekers from the United Kingdom. The Immigration Service, like other Government Departments, also has various internal measures against which its performance is monitored and managed.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to encourage participation in the Voluntary Assisted Return Programme.

Beverley Hughes: The Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP) is widely advertised directly by the Home Office within the asylum system and through outreach and advice work by non-governmental and international organisations. Information on the programme can be found in Reporting Centres, Reception Centres and Removals Centres as well as from the Home Office website. Asylum seekers who have been refused asylum are sent an information sheet which gives details of how to return voluntarily. We also hold regular meetings with non-governmental and international organisations including the Refugee Council, Refugee Action, UNHCR and IOM to discuss promotion of voluntary return. The voluntary sector organisations conduct outreach work with community groups directly to advise them of the option of voluntary return. The Home Office hosts meetings with Afghan community groups to raise the profile of voluntary return including the Return to Afghanistan Programme and the recently launched Afghan Explore and Prepare Programme.
	In the first instance, those who are interested in returning home voluntarily are required to register their interest with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) who are co-funded by the Home Office and the European Refugee Fund (ERF) to operate VARRP.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many strip searches have been conducted at removal centres in the last 12 months.

Beverley Hughes: Strip searches of adult detainees in immigration removal centres may take place only on the basis of specific evidence or intelligence of a risk to the safety and security of the centre, its staff or other detainees. Central records of the number of such searches are not maintained and the information requested is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the booking of flights for departing asylum seekers is centrally co-ordinated by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Beverley Hughes: The booking of flights for the removal of asylum seekers is not centrally co-ordinated by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate but is made by the immigration office dealing with the individual case.
	Where the removal is to be effected at the expense of the inbound carrier under the provisions of paragraphs 8 and 9 of schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971, arrangements will be made directly with the carrier. If removal is to be effected at public expense under paragraph 10 of the same schedule they will be made via the travel company contracted to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for that purpose. In these cases there is a central unit in the Immigration Service which provides a ticket procurement and payment function for these bookings. These arrangements apply in all removal cases and there are no separate processes for those who have sought asylum here.

Asylum Seekers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed Iraqi asylum seekers (a) have been removed from the UK, (b) have voluntarily left the UK with government support and (c) have otherwise been recorded as leaving the UK in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: Estimates of the number of nationals of Iraq who had sought asylum at some stage and who were removed from the UK from 1997 to June 2003 (the latest date for which figures are available) are shown in the table. These figures include persons departing 'voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
	
		Removals and voluntary(36) departures of principal asylum applicants (excluding dependants): January 1997 to June 2003(37) , (38) , (39)
		
			  Nationals of Iraq 
		
		
			 1997 40 
			 1998 40 
			 1999 n/a 
			 2000 n/a 
			 2001 90 
			 2002 195 
			 January to June 2003 175 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.
	(36) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country, grounds.
	(37) Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to total due to rounding.
	(38) Data have been estimated due to data quality issues.
	(39) Provisional figures.
	At present removals to Iraq are on a voluntary basis only. Enforced returns will commence when the circumstances are right.
	Information on the destination of these removals and whether they departed voluntarily with government support is not available, except by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.
	Estimates of the nationality of those asylum seekers who were removed from the UK in the third quarter of 2003 are due to be published on 24 February 2004 on the Home Office website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Asylum Seekers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers he estimates are in the UK without legal basis for their presence; and how many are failed Iraqi asylum seekers.

Beverley Hughes: Information on the total number of asylum seekers currently in the UK, including failed asylum seekers, is not currently available. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records. Even such an exercise, however, would not produce a valid estimate as some applicants may leave the United Kingdom without informing the Immigration Service.
	The Government have commissioned research into the methods used in other countries to estimate the size of the illegal population in order to define methods appropriate for the UK.
	The work required is challenging because, by definition, illegal migrants fall outside official statistics and are therefore difficult to measure. People illegally present in the UK are also motivated to ensure they remain hidden, further compounding the difficulties of conducting research.
	The number of cases (principal applicants) awaiting initial decision or awaiting appeal determinations continues to fall as the level of applications falls, initial decisions continue to outstrip the number of applications, and record numbers of appeals are determined by the IAA. The latest published figures show that as at the end of September 2003 there were:
	29,100 cases awaiting an initial decision (of this total, 8,500 cases were work in progress, i.e. the application had been outstanding for six months or less), the lowest level for a decade;
	an estimated 16,000 appeals lodged with the Home Office which had not been sent to the Immigration Appellate Authority (a proportion of appeals lodged do not result in appeal bundles being sent to the IAA); and
	28,800 asylum cases work in progress in the IAA (18,100 at the Adjudicator Tier, 5,600 applications for permission to appeal to the Tribunal, and 5,100 Tribunal Appeals).
	Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will be available at the end of February 2004 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi asylum seekers have returned to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Beverley Hughes: Estimates of the number of nationals of Iraq who had sought asylum at some stage and who were removed from the UK since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 to June 2003—the latest available figures—are shown in the table. These figures include persons departing 'voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
	
		Removals and voluntary(40) departures of principal asylum applicants (excluding dependants): April 2003 to June 2003 (41) , (42) , (43)
		
			  Nationals of Iraq 
		
		
			 April 2003 45 
			 May 2003 25 
			 June 2003 20 
			 Total 85 
		
	
	(40) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country grounds.
	(41) Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to total due to rounding.
	(42) Data have been estimated due to data quality issues.
	(43) Provisional figures.
	Information on the destination of these removals is not available.
	At present removals to Iraq are on a voluntary basis only, enforced returns will commence when the circumstances are right.
	Figures for principal asylum applicants removed from the United Kingdom in the period July to September 2003 will be available after publication of Asylum statistics Quarter 4 2003 on 24 February 2004 on the Home Office website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Asylum Seekers

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time taken to process asylum applications originating in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland was in the last year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: Information on the average length of time taken to process asylum applications lodged in each of the regions of the UK is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Asylum applications data are not available at regional level.
	The latest published statistics show that the speed of processing asylum applications continues to improve. Provisional data show that 81 per cent. of applications received in the period April to June 2003 had initial decisions reached and served within two months and that 74 per cent. of applications (excluding withdrawals and 3rd country cases 1 ) received in 2002–03 were decided and served within two months. This exceeded the Government's target of 65 per cent. for 2002–03, and was a significant increase on the corresponding figure of 61 per cent. for 2001–02.
	Information on the timeliness of initial decisions is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	1 Cases which may be the responsibility of other EU member states under the Dublin Convention.

Asylum Seekers (Children)

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what extra resources will be given to local authorities to support the children of failed asylum seekers.

Beverley Hughes: The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Bill provides that families whose asylum claims have failed would no longer be entitled to support at the expense of the taxpayer if they refuse opportunities to leave the country. If parents fail to take these opportunities to leave and put their children at risk, it would be for the local authority to decide how the interests of the children should be protected under the existing child protection legislation that applies to all children. We do not believe that many, if any, parents would put their children in this position. If this were to happen, the costs would be met by central Government.

Asylum Seekers (Children)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children are held in detention centres for asylum seekers.

Beverley Hughes: The latest available information shows that at the end of September 2003 1,575 people were detained solely under the Immigration Act, of whom 1,270 had sought asylum at some stage. Information on the number of these who were detained as part of a family group is unavailable.
	However, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate internal management information indicates that on 8 December 38 children were in detention. This information also indicates that the average time for which children are detained in UK removal centres is about 10 days, although the majority would be in detention for periods less than this.

Bribery

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of overseas bribery involving UK companies his Department has received from the US Administration since February 1999; on what dates; and what action his Department took on each allegation.

Paul Goggins: The US Administration has not referred any such allegations to the Home Office. The investigation of allegations of crime is a matter for law enforcement agencies.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) Greater London.

Fiona Mactaggart: Home Office civil servants occupy (a) 114,885 square metres of office space in Central London and (b) 252, 548 square metres in Greater London. Home Office sponsored Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) occupy a further 30,858 square metres of office space in Central London and 34,628 square metres in Greater London. The figures exclude support offices provided within prisons and other specialised facilities.

Detainees

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) Mr. Anwar al Aulaki (aka al Aulaqi), (b) Mr. Yasser Tawfik el-Serri and (c) Mr. Hani Yusef al Sebai are (i) detained and (ii) on remand; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: None of the three people mentioned in the question is either (i) detained, or (ii) on remand in the United Kingdom.

Driving Offences

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for (a) driving without due care and attention, (b) failing to have proper control of a vehicle, (c) careless and inconsiderate driving and (d) dangerous driving have been secured as a result of evidence from speed cameras.

Hazel Blears: Speed camera evidence can only be used for prosecutions and the issue of fixed penalties for excess speed.

Identity Theft

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to prevent the issuing of passports to people with false identities.

Beverley Hughes: As indicated in its 2003–08 Corporate and Business Plan, the UK Passport Service is taking forward a range of initiatives to reduce passport fraud through improved fraud detection and prevention. These include:
	Continuing work to eliminate fraudulent applications for passports in identities of deceased infants and prosecution of those perpetrating this type of fraud;
	The establishment in December 2003 of a new more comprehensive database for the recording and dissemination of lost, stolen and recovered passport information;
	Exploring the benefits of using private sector and other government databases in establishing identity;
	Developing the training of passport examiners to an accredited standard to ensure that knowledge and competency are regularly tested;
	Introducing secure delivery for the despatch of all passports to eliminate thefts and losses in the post;
	Increasing the professionalism of its fraud investigation capability through the creation of fraud and intelligence units in each of its offices, and strengthening training and support for these units;
	Developing its IT systems to undertake more automatic checks; to better link passport records to an individual; and to identify passport fraud;
	Developing the use of facial recognition biometrics to check new applications against images of known fraudsters and to implement more secure passports incorporating biometric identifiers;
	Changing the law to align the penalty associated with fraudulently obtaining a driving licence with that for fraudulently obtaining a passport and making these offences arrestable; and by creating a new offence relating to being in possession or control of false identity documents, without reasonable cause; and
	Actively working with law enforcement agencies to apprehend, disrupt and dismantle the activities of those involved in passport fraud.
	These initiatives build on the successful implementation of a number of anti-fraud measures including the strengthening of the counter signatory requirement for passport applications and the prevention of fraudulent applications using the identity of dead children.
	In the context of the latter initiative the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) have used data provided by the office of National Statistics to stop 408 passport applications in the identities of dead children and have identified over 1000 cases in which this route was used to obtain passports fraudulently in the past. In all more than 120 people have been arrested as a result of this work and the details of the remainder have been circulated to law enforcement agencies at home and abroad.

Illegal Immigrants (Northern Ireland)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were detected at Northern Ireland's (a) ports and (b) airports in the last five years for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: The number of people against whom illegal entry action was initiated in each of the last five years for which information is available is shown in the table. Information on whether these persons were detected at port or later in-country is unavailable and would be available only by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.
	
		Persons against whom illegal entry action was initiated 1998 to 2002
		
			  Number of persons 
		
		
			 1998 16,500 
			 1999 21,165 
			 2000 47,325 
			 2001 69,875 
			 2002(44) 48,050 
		
	
	(44) Provisional figures.
	Illegal entry action is initiated against those people who are detected entering, or having entered the country clandestinely or by means of deception, either verbal or documentary.
	This information and other statistics on the immigration and asylum system are published annually in the Command publication "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom" a copy of which is in the House Library and can be found on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Immigration

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the number of citizens of EU accession states likely to settle in the UK during the first year of those states' membership.

Beverley Hughes: Research conducted by University College London for the Home Office, published in June last year ("The impact of EU enlargement on migration flows", Home Office On-Line Report 25/03), estimates that the number of people expected to migrate to the UK from the new member states in the years following enlargement will not be significant. The research corroborates a number of other independent studies, which have been summarised in reports by the European Commission in 2000 and the former Department for Education and Employment in 1999. The estimates for those expected to migrate cover those coming to the UK for at least a year.
	We will monitor the situation and the UK has the right to reintroduce restrictions on workers in the event of an unexpected impact on the standard of living or level of employment in a particular region or occupation.

Immigration

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records will be kept of numbers of citizens of EU accession states entering the UK and intending to settle here after 1 May.

Beverley Hughes: From accession, nationals from new member states will be EU nationals and will be treated in the same way as current EU/EEA nationals. They will be admitted to the UK on production of a valid passport or identity card.
	EU/EEA nationals can obtain settled status (permanent residence) in the UK only by demonstrating that they have been exercising treaty rights for a period of four years and have a residence permit. The Home Office keeps a record of both the number of residence permits granted and those who are granted permanent residence.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in each of the last five years of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Beverley Hughes: The expenditure of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) excluding capital and cost of capital charges is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1998–99 684 
			 1999–2000 846 
			 2000–01 1,166 
			 2001–02 1,580 
			 2002–03 (45)— 
		
	
	(45) The actuals for 2002–03 are yet to be audited and published.

Migrant's Surcharge

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a migrant who applies for a work permit, a study permit and for indefinite leave to remain will be required to incur the migrant's surcharge for each application.

Beverley Hughes: In line with the current fee structure an applicant who made three separate applications would be charged an additional over cost fee for each individual application.
	No decisions have been made regarding the level of any additional fee, this will only be done after wide consultation with other Government Departments and key stakeholders. It is felt that it is only fair that migrants who want to come and live in the UK should make a contribution in return for the considerable benefits they receive.

Open Prisons

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days prisoners who absconded served at (a) Sudbury open prison and (b) other open prisons before they absconded in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2003–04.

Paul Goggins: The information that the hon. Member has requested on days served before abscond cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost.

Open Prisons

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the prisoners who absconded from (a) Sudbury open prison and (b) other open prisons in 2003–04 and who are still unlawfully at large are serving sentences for (i) murder, (ii) grievous bodily harm and (iii) sex offences.

Paul Goggins: Of those prisoners who have absconded from Sudbury in 2003–04, up to 15 January 2004, one was serving a sentence for murder. None of the remainder were serving sentences for grievous bodily harm or sex offences. The information in respect of other open prisons is not immediately available. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible to provide a full answer.

Passports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  who will have responsibility for the retention and disposal of passports required to be photocopied by UK carriers abroad; and what assessment he has made of the implications for such a requirement of the Data Protection Act 1998 and EU Directives on data protection;
	(2)  if his Department will resist a requirement on UK-registered airlines operating flights to the UK to photocopy passengers' passports;
	(3)  if he will list the overseas airports his Department intends to designate as departure points requiring carriers to photocopy passports for passengers travelling to the UK;
	(4)  how his Department will consult airline carriers before requiring them to photocopy passports at a foreign airport;
	(5)  what plans his Department has to obtain approval and clearance from the relevant foreign government or authority before requiring airlines to photocopy passports for passengers travelling to the UK at airports located in that country;
	(6)  what estimate he has made of the (a) cost to the airlines of photocopying passports in terms of equipment and staff and (b) length of time required to photocopy passports;
	(7)  if he will set out the procedures that will apply in the event that passengers refuse to allow their documents to be copied.

Beverley Hughes: The new clause brought forward by way of Government amendment to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill will allow an Immigration Officer to require a carrier (UK or overseas based) to provide either a full or partial copy of any document relating to a passenger and containing information about that passenger. A carrier would only have to provide copies of documents on written request. This will help deal with the significant number of asylum seekers who deliberately destroy their travel documents.
	Consultation with carriers began on 27 October 2003 and continues through correspondence and meetings. The Home Office has received a range of cost estimates from a number of carriers. There are currently joint discussions over the practical details of a trial to provide a more precise estimate of the costs involved and to test the process.
	This power will not be implemented unless the trial has demonstrated that this is practical and cost-effective. This power would not be applied universally but would be deployed on selected routes as and when there was a problem with undocumented arrivals. The power will be capable of being invoked in respect of any ship or aircraft which has arrived/is expected to arrive in the UK or which has departed/is expected to depart from the UK, regardless of which port that ship or aircraft arrived/will arrive at or will depart/has departed from. It is, therefore, not necessary to designate or list departure points for the purposes of the use of the power.
	The proposal is for the criminal offence in section 27(b) (iv) of the Immigration Act 1971 to apply in respect of the new power. The offence in section 27(b) (iv) of the Immigration Act 1971 is not committed if the carrier has a "reasonable excuse" for failing to comply with the request. This means that it would be a criminal offence, punishable on summary conviction with a fine of not more than level five on the standard scale or with a maximum of six months imprisonment, or with both, for a carrier to fail to comply with a request to copy documents, without reasonable excuse. It is anticipated that a carrier would decline to carry any passenger who refused to allow their document to be carried.
	The Home Office will be responsible for the retention and disposal of any copies. All data processed would be done so in compliance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. The Act imposes a number of obligations on a data controller, one of which pertains to the retention and disposal of data.
	Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes will not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
	Foreign governments will be approached only when a need for the power at a specific location has been identified.

Penal Affairs Consortium

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work of the Penal Affairs Consortium.

Paul Goggins: The Penal Affairs Consortium is a body that marshals the views of a wide range of organisations that campaign on criminal justice issues or represent those working in the criminal justice field. We recognise the expertise they have and appreciate the contribution to the debate on penal affairs that they make.

Police Funding

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to (a) identify and (b) match project-specific funding within each police area in the United Kingdom.

Hazel Blears: We have continued this year with a £20 million Premises Improvement Fund to improve the working conditions police staff by modernising the police estate and communication technology. This year police authorities were able to submit up to two bids, each for a maximum of £0.5 million, and had to match funding from their own resources. Cleveland had one successful bid for £500,000 in matched funding for a range of accommodation improvements across the police estate. We have no plans to identify and match other project-specific funding.

Prisoners on Release

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in the most recent year for which figures are available, gave no fixed abode as their address; how many convicted paedophiles were released form gaol within this period; and how many convicted paedophiles gave no fixed abode as their address within this period.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service undertook a large-scale survey in March and April 2003 of sentenced prisoners nearing release. 29 per cent. said they did not have accommodation arranged on release, compared to 33 per cent. in a similar survey undertaken in November and December 2001. These surveys did not look separately at prisoners convicted of sex offences.
	The latest Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Reports were published in September 2003. Copies are in the Library. They showed there were 21,413 registered sex offenders in the community. MAPPA provides a framework within which different agencies work together to manage the risks posed by these offenders, including those arising from the absence of stable accommodation. The resettlement of sex offenders posing a serious risk of harm to the public is jointly managed by the police and the National Probation Service within these arrangements.
	Provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will formalise this multi-agency engagement by imposing a duty to co-operate with the MAPPA on a number of agencies, including local housing authorities and relevant registered social landlords.
	Registered sex offenders are also subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 1997. They are required to provide the police with their home address within three days of their release from prison. Where an offender does not have a home address (which is his sole or main residence in the UK), he is required to provide the police with an address of premises in the UK that he regularly visits.

Prisons (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many prisons have been closed in Wales since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has to accommodate more youth offenders from Wales in Wales.

Paul Goggins: No prisons in Wales have closed since 1997. There are no plans, at present, to build any new prisons in Wales, but accommodation requirements will be kept under review.
	There are no plans to accommodate more young adult offenders (18 to 20 year olds) from Wales in Wales. The management of juveniles, under 18 years of age, is now the responsibility of the Youth Justice Board. An outline planning application for a site for a new Secure Training Centre (STC) in Wales primarily for vulnerable Welsh juveniles was approved in December 2003. This is subject to final decisions to proceed with the project.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to place police authorities under the control of elected regional assemblies where they are introduced.

Nick Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
	The White Paper 'Your Region, Your Choice' sets out the powers of Elected Regional Assemblies. Responsibility for police authorities is not included in the White Paper.
	However, in the event of changes in the way central government functions are delivered, section 4.5 of the White Paper states that Government will "build into policy development the new opportunities offered by the creation of elected regional assemblies".

Sex Offenders

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being explored to make sure that a sexual offender is identified correctly on making his first notification, with particular reference to progress has been made with his plans to use biometric technologies.

Paul Goggins: Under the Sex Offenders Act 1997 when an offender makes his initial notification, the police may take his photograph and/or his fingerprints to verify the identity of the person making the notification.
	The Sexual Offences Act 2003, which re-enacts the 1997 Act with substantial amendments, will allow the police to take photographs of any part of an offender at any notification. This would include a notification by the offender of a change to his details and his annual notification. The definition of photograph is wide enough to include the use of biometric technologies such as, in the future, iris scanning. The Violent and Sex Offenders Register (ViSOR), currently being developed by the Police and Information Technology Organisation, will have the capacity to store multiple images of individual offenders. These will include facial images and other images such as scars, marks and tattoos. ViSOR, coupled with the new powers in the 2003 Act, will significantly improve the ability of the police to establish the identity of offenders.
	The Police and Information Technology Organisation is actively monitoring developments in biometric technology and are associated with a number of research projects focused on the identification of individuals for law enforcement purposes. The Home Office funded a study by the National Physical Laboratory on the use of iris, fingerprint and face biometrics in identity card schemes. The results of this study are on the Home Office website.
	Currently, the verification of the identity of individuals against their criminal record is achieved using fingerprints via the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS). The replacement contract for NAFIS is currently under negotiation and it is anticipated that the system architecture will provide a flexible platform to allow other biometric capabilities to be integrated should they be required.

Shoplifting

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women were imprisoned for shoplifting offences in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2002.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is as follows:
	
		Total persons sentenced and those sentenced to immediate custody for theft from shops, England and Wales, 2001 and 2002
		
			  Male Female 
		
		
			 Total persons sentenced 
			 2001 60,155 19,418 
			 2002 60,074 19,756 
			
			  Persons sentenced to immediate custody 
			 2001 12,652 2,397 
			 2002 13,892 2,737 
			
			 As percentage of total sentenced 
			 2001 21 12 
			 2002 23 14 
		
	
	It should be noted that courts' sentencing decisions are influenced by the seriousness of the offence and take into account previous convictions.

Speed Camera Convictions

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the number of fines issued from speeding camera convictions in each year since 1997 in Shrewsbury and Atcham was.

Caroline Flint: The available information on the number of court fines and fixed penalties issued within the police force area of West Mercia for the offence of 'speeding detected by camera' for 1997–2001 is shown in the table. It is not possible from the data collected centrally to identify Shrewsbury and Atcham.
	Information for 2002 will be available in the spring.
	
		Fines and fixed penalties data for speeding offences detected by camera(46) , (47) within West Mercia police force area, 1997–2001
		
			  Total fined at all courts Fixed penalty notices issued 
		
		
			 1997 92 — 
			 1998 67 5,500 
			 1999 166 8,800 
			 2000 207 13,800 
			 2001 434 24,400 
		
	
	(46) Automatic cameras until 1998, all camera types from 1999.
	(47) Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and The Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.

Work Permits

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Department's policy is on awarding United Kingdom work permits to health care professionals; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 29 January 2004
	Work Permits are issued to workers from overseas to come to the UK to work in posts where certain published, specified criteria are met.
	Healthcare professionals are treated in exactly the same way as other professionals in that they must qualify under these criteria. A number of healthcare posts appear on the Work Permits (UK) shortage occupation list. This allows employers to apply for permits for posts where there is a recognised shortage without the need to undertake a resident labour search.

CABINET OFFICE

Central Sponsor for Information Assurance

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the role of the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance will be when the e-Envoy's responsibilities are re-assigned in accordance with the e-Envoy 2003 report.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office unit, the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA) was created in April 2003. Andrew Finder is the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance in addition to his role as the e-Envoy.
	The re-organisation of the e-Envoy under a new Head of e-Government will incorporate the continued role and responsibilities of the Central Sponsor.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much space, expressed in square metres, the Office occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) Greater London.

Douglas Alexander: As of 1 January 2004, the Cabinet Office (including the Government Car and Despatch Agency) is responsible for 61,542m 2 of office space in central London. The Cabinet Office has no space in Greater London.

Civil Service

James Gray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1014W, on the Civil Service, to whom the Cabinet Secretary, while still a Crown servant, was required to report approaches from external commercial employers; whether, the Cabinet Secretary reported an approach to him during 1997 to join the Advisory Board of IBM UK; to whom the newly retired Cabinet Secretary was required to report offers of employment and consultancy in his retirement in 1998; whether the newly retired Cabinet Secretary reported an offer to join the Advisory Board of IBM UK in 1998; and whether permission for him to take up the appointment was granted by the Prime Minister.

Douglas Alexander: Decisions on applications under the Business Appointment Rules submitted by serving and former Cabinet Secretaries are for the Prime Minister. The former Cabinet Secretary referred to in the Question submitted an application when in office to take up an appointment with IBM on retirement. On advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, the Prime Minister approved the appointment.

Civil Service (Disabled People)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will set out the number of employees in his Department who have a disability, broken down by disability type.

Douglas Alexander: The table gives the number of employees in my Department who have a disability broken down by disability type.
	
		
			 Disability type Staff number (headcount) as at 1 April 2003(48) 
		
		
			 Reduced Physical Capacity 11 
			 Reduced Physical Capacity + other impairment (49)— 
			 Physical Co-ordination Difficulties (49)— 
			 Hearing Impairment (alone) 6 
			 Hearing Impairment + other impairment (49)— 
			 Learning Difficulties 5 
			 Learning Difficulties + other impairment (49)— 
			 Mental Illness (49)— 
			 Mobility Impairment (alone) (49)— 
			 Mobility Impairment + other impairment 5 
			 Speech Impairment (alone) (49)— 
			 Unknown Disability (49)— 
			 Visual Impairment (alone) (49)— 
			 Total 47 
		
	
	(48) These figures cover the Cabinet Office (main), the Government Car and Despatch Agency (air Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office) and the Central' Office of Information (which reports to the Minister for the Cabinet Office).
	(49) Represents figures which are not disclosed to protect the confidentiality of the staff members concerned, i.e. where the figure is less than 5.
	Source:
	Cabinet Office, Departmental returns
	My Department set up a cross-departmental Disability Working Group in January 2003, which is currently working to identify best practice in surveying staff on disability. The group has recently completed a consultation exercise, the outcome of which will be made available in due course.
	The Cabinet Office also supports its own departmental network for disabled staff (DISCO) and will be working with them to support a number of initiatives throughout the coming year. This includes awareness raising events about various disabilities.

Consultation

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how the recommendations that (a) policy makers should ensure that consultation is clear, concise and widely accessible and (b) policy makers should give feedback regarding the responses received and how the consultation process influenced the policy, will be enacted in relation to the Draft Mental Health Bill, with reference to the Code of Practice on Government consultations.

Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
	In line with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on written consultation, the consultation document and draft Bill were made widely available in hard copy and on the Department of Health and the Stationery Office's websites. Hard copies were sent directly to key stakeholders such as voluntary organisations. Respondents could reply by letter or e-mail.
	The Government's response to the consultation will be published prior to a revised and completed draft Bill being considered by a Pre-legislative Scrutiny Committee during this session. This will contain a summary of views expressed and reasons for the policies adopted, as well as the reasons for rejecting options that were not adopted. It will be available in hard copy and on the Department of Health website. At that time, copies of responses will be placed in the Library, except where respondents have asked for confidentiality.

Critical Information Infrastructure

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he has taken to (a) identify points of vulnerability of and (b) prevent damage to the critical information infrastructure for public sector networks; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Government have a continuous programme of work that identifies vulnerabilities and prevents damage to the critical national infrastructure, public sector networks and other inter-dependent information systems.
	The Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA) works closely with the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC), who lead in protecting the critical national infrastructure from electronic attack.
	The CSIA also works with partners across the public and private sector to assure Government that the risks to the national information infrastructure are appropriately managed.
	For security reasons it would not be appropriate to discuss specific vulnerabilities which have been identified, however the CSIA and its partners continue to work with owners of critical national infrastructure to mitigate risks.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what cost savings have been made in the Office since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office Centre of Excellence was established in June 2003 to integrate the essential functions underpinning the successful delivery of acquisition based programmes and projects.
	All Centres of Excellence are currently developing future plans and as part of this process measurement of savings will be defined.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many regulatory impact assessments completed during 2003 resulted in Government Departments deciding not to proceed with new regulations.

Douglas Alexander: There are no cross-government figures on the number of RIAs that resulted in decisions not to proceed with new regulations. The Government are committed to promoting the use of alternatives to state regulation. As set out in "Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment" departments are required to consider alternatives as part of the RIA process. From this year departments will be required to report on their performance on better regulation in their annual reports, including information on the use of alternatives.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Child Rescue Alert Scheme

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to extend the Child Rescue Alert scheme to Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The PSNI are currently examining how best to further develop policy in this area. They currently operate the child safety scheme in conjunction with Tescos and NSPCC and focuses mainly on shopping centres. They have looked at extending this initiative and as part of that research have considered the Child Alert Scheme and the Amber Scheme in the USA. In addition, the PSNI are also assessing a scheme based on phone texting called TEXTUS that could be used to alert all individuals who have a mobile telephone about missing children.
	I understand that decisions on the way forward will be reached by the PSNI in the near future.

Child Support

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Child Support Agency cases in Northern Ireland have used the new formula for calculating child maintenance payments in each month since its introduction; and what steps he is taking to increase these figures.

John Spellar: The Government has sought to reform the child support system to provide prompt, accurate maintenance calculations and quick, reliable maintenance payments. The revised child support scheme, initially delayed from April 2002 to allow further testing of the new IT system, was introduced for new cases on 3 March 2003.
	No decision has yet been made as to when cases assessed under the "old" formula, will transfer to the new.
	The number of child support cases in Northern Ireland, having used the new formula for calculating child maintenance, each month, since its introduction in March 2003, is as follows:
	
		
			  Assessment calculated under new formula 
		
		
			 March to July(50) 344 
			 August 2003 226 
			 September 2003 370 
			 October 2003 427 
			 November 2003 380 
			 December 2003 228 
			 January(51) 132 
			 Total 2,107 
		
	
	(50) Only year to date information is available up to July 2003.
	(51) As at 27 January 2004.
	Between 3 March 2003 and 17 January 2004, the Agency has dealt with 66 per cent. of the new applications received and case clearances are currently on par with intake. The current number of outstanding applications is 2,899.
	To further reduce the number of outstanding new scheme applications, 10 additional staff are currently undergoing training. They will be fully effective by 31 March 2004.

Civil Service Code

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, when in May 2001 an employee of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland was found to have harassed a colleague and subjected to a disciplinary charge, that employee was, in accordance with the Pay and Conditions of Service Code of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, provided with the detail of the case.

Jane Kennedy: In line with the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code and the Department of Education's policy on Harassment and Bullying, the individual was provided with the detail of the case.

Disability Discrimination Act

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: Most provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) have been implemented in Northern Ireland. The final provisions of part III of the DDA concerning the rights of access to goods, facilities, services and premises will be implemented in October 2004 when service providers may have to make 'reasonable adjustments' in relation to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.
	Part V of the DDA allows for accessibility standards to be set for public transport. Beginning in March/April 2004, the Department of the Environment expects to consult on proposals to implement the UK Government's commitment on making (public hire) taxis accessible to disabled people. Draft measures will have regard to taxi accessibility proposals announced for England and Wales in October 2003 and will form part of a wide range of measures to reform taxi regulation emerging from the on-going NI Review of Taxi Regulation.
	Under section 37 of DDA, the Department of the Environment introduced regulations on 1 August 2001 imposing on licensed drivers of public hire taxis a duty to carry without charge a guide dog, hearing dog or other prescribed category of dog when it accompanies the hirer. The provision also provides that such a driver may be exempted from this obligation on medical grounds. It is the Department's intention to extend similar provisions under section 37A to licensed drivers of private hire vehicles in mid 2004.
	The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (NI) 2003 came into operation on 30 April 2003. The regulations are intended to ensure that disabled people can get on and off buses and coaches in safety and without unreasonable difficulty, and in the case of wheelchair users, can do so while remaining in their wheelchairs. They are also intended to ensure that disabled people are carried in these vehicles in safety and in reasonable comfort e.g., they provide for wheelchair spaces, boarding lifts and ramps, suitable entrances and exits, handrails and kneeling systems.
	The Department for Regional Development made Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) on 2 July 2001. All new trains, including the 23 currently being built for Northern Ireland Railways, must comply with these regulations

Disabled Persons (Transport)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to improve access to trains for disabled persons in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: The 23 new trains currently being built for Translink will comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (NI) 2001. These trains will replace Translink's existing slam door Class 80 trains and will provide much easier access for wheelchair users. The remainder of Translink's fleet, its Castle Class and Enterprise trains, have automatic doors, which facilitate access by wheelchair users. Translink advise that all main stations provide access to trains by wheelchair users.

Driving Disqualifications

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals were disqualified from driving in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Kennedy: The information is set out in the table. Information for subsequent years is not yet available.
	
		
			  Number of disqualifications 
		
		
			 1993 2,692 
			 1994 2,649 
			 1995 2,398 
			 1996 1,988 
			 1997 1,943 
			 1998 2,247 
			 1999 2,665 
			 2000 2,583 
			 2001 2,203

Estate Agents (Intimidation)

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of estate agents who have been subject to violent threats to deter their provision of services and letting of properties to members of ethnic minority groups; and what steps have been taken by the police to (a) identify and (b) prosecute those responsible.

Jane Kennedy: In recent weeks the media reported that an estate agent in the Donegal Road area of Belfast had suffered intimidation from unknown persons who attempted to deter him from offering his services and letting property to members of ethnic minority groups, however no complaint has been made to the police in South Belfast by any estate agent.
	As a result of these media reports, police officers contacted estate agents in the Donegal Road Area that let property about these allegations; however no estate agents subsequently reported any form of intimidation against them concerning their letting practices.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients are awaiting (a) in-patient admission and (b) initial out-patient assessment for orthopaedic surgery.

Angela Smith: Waiting list statistics are submitted to the Department at specialty level. The information in this answer relates to people waiting in the trauma and orthopaedics specialty. The latest available waiting list figures show the position at 30 September 2003, when
	(a) there were 6,253 patients awaiting admission to hospital in the trauma and orthopaedics surgery specialty.
	(b) there were 19,619 patients awaiting a first out-patient appointment in the trauma and orthopaedics surgery specialty.

Mobile Classrooms

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools in each Northern Ireland constituency make use of temporary mobile classroom accommodation; and what the forecast average time is for the replacement of this accommodation.

Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education is currently working with the Education and Library Boards and other school authorities to update the information held on the number of temporary classrooms in the school estate. This information will be supplied to you when the results of the survey are available.
	There is no average replacement time forecast for temporary accommodation. It is replaced based on the educational need and the resources available. Through the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative, £15 million was made available over the past two years specifically to remove temporary classrooms from 52 schools. Over the next two years, a further £16 million will be made available for this purpose. In addition, over the past four years major capital projects totalling some £650 million have been announced and this investment will also contribute to further reductions in temporary accommodation as these schemes come to fruition in the coming years.

Olympic Games

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of whether Windsor Park Football Ground would be suitable to host Olympic games fixtures in the event of London hosting the games in 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The London 2012 Olympic bid team included Windsor Park as a proposed venue for preliminary rounds of the Olympic football tournament, should the London bid be successful. It is recognised that Windsor Park would require substantial upgrading if it is to host such fixtures but this can be assessed in detail when the outcome of the bid is known and in the context of the outcomes of a study now being commissioned to establish if a National Stadium in Northern Ireland is a viable option.

Parades Commission

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission.

Jane Kennedy: The Government have been considering the responses received so far as a result of the public consultation exercise in relation to the Quigley Report. The door remains open for any further responses. However, in the interim, the tenure of the serving Chairman and members of the Parades Commission has been extended to 31 December 2005.

Paramilitary Activities

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many paramilitary attacks on individuals in Northern Ireland there have been in each of the last five years.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year By Loyalist By Republican Total 
		
		
			  (a) Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaults(52) 
			 1998–99 112 60 172 
			 1999–2000 70 33 103 
			 2000–01 89 72 161 
			 2001–02 76 36 112 
			 2002–03 94 50 144 
			  
			  (b) Number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style shootings 
			 1998–99 40 33 73 
			 1999–2000 53 22 75 
			 2000–01 99 63 162 
			 2001–02 124 66 190 
			 2002–03 110 55 165 
			 
			  (c) Total number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaultsand shootings 
			 1998–99 152 93 245 
			 1999–2000 123 55 178 
			 2000–01 188 135 323 
			 2001–02 200 102 302 
			 2002–03 204 105 309 
		
	
	(52) Beatings

Paramilitary Activities

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in prosecuting (a) loyalist and (b) republican paramilitaries who have carried out punishment beatings and shootings.

Jane Kennedy: It is not possible to provide details of the number of persons arrested or charged for such offences as the offences which they have been charged with are defined as assault occasioning actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm. Police statistics do not identify whether such crimes were the result of paramilitary attacks. Police investigations into these crimes are often hampered by the victims' reluctance to co-operate with them.

Pension Credit

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average time taken to process each pension credit application was in 2003; and how many applications remain to be processed.

John Spellar: The average time taken to process new Pension Credit applications in 2003 was 30 days.
	On average about 350 new applications are received each week and there are currently 4,200 applications still to be processed. All applications made up to October 2004 will be backdated to 6 October 2003.
	There are also about 900 Minimum Income Guarantee claims (made between October and December 2003 where entitlement began prior to 6 October 2003) still to be processed. These should be cleared by March 2004.
	Following the launch of Pension Credit in October there has been a tremendous response from pensioners and their representatives both in terms of enquiries and pensions credit applications. It has taken longer than anticipated to process the applications.
	However, firm plans are in place, additional staff are being trained and the situation will improve significantly over the coming months.

Police (Assaults)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many attacks on police officers there were in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Kennedy: The information is set out in the following table.
	
		Number of attacks on Police in Northern Ireland
		
			  Missile attacks(53) Other attacks Total 
		
		
			 1994 102 176 278 
			 1995 371 129 500 
			 1996 1,322 208 1,530 
			 1997 1,011 229 1,240 
			 1998 1,422 384 1,806 
			 1999 1,028 210 1,238 
			 2000 1,119 254 1,373 
			 2001 1,663 332 1,995 
			 2002 1,654 108 1,762 
			 2003(54) 1,155 13 1,168 
		
	
	(53) Missile attacks relate to the throwing of an object such as a bottle, brick, or stone.
	(54) 2003 figures are provisional and subject to minor amendment.

Prison Service

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much it has cost the Prison Service to fly the (a) Director General and (b) Director of Operations of the Northern Ireland Prison Service in and out of the Province since their appointments; and how many flights have been taken.

Paul Murphy: The Director General and the Director of Operations of the Northern Ireland Prison Service are both entitled to one return flight per week as part of their employment contracts. Both avail themselves of approximately 46 flights per year. The average cost of a return flight for the Director General is £224 and £290 for the Director of Operations.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the (a) Fair Employment Commission, (b) Industrial Development Board, (c) Tourist Board (Northern Ireland) and (d) Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Paul Murphy: The most recently published information on members of the Boards of public bodies, their term of office and remuneration is contained in the Public Appointments Annual Report. A copy of the latest report (covering the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) is available from the Library of the House and on the internet at: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments
	The Industrial Development Board was subsumed into Invest Northern Ireland with effect from 1 April 2002. With effect from 1 October 1999, the Fair Employment Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission were replaced by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which is not a public body of the Devolved Administration.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the (a) Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland, (b) Health and Safety Agency for Northern Ireland, (c) Labour Relations Agency, (d) Fair Employment Tribunal and (e) Economic Council were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Paul Murphy: The most recently published information on members of the Boards of public bodies, their term of office and remuneration is contained in the Public Appointments Annual Report. A copy of the latest report (covering the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) is available from the Library of the House and on the internet at: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments
	The Health and Safety Agency became the Health and Safety Executive with effect from 1 April 1999.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  who the members of the (a) Law Reform Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland, (b) Statute Law Committee, (c) Belfast Education and Library Board, (d) North Eastern Education and Library Board and (e) South Eastern Education and Library Board were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is;
	(2)  who the members of the (a) Western Health and Social Services Council, (b) Down Lisburn Health and Social Services Trust, (c) North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust, (d) South and East Belfast Health and Social Services Trust and (e) Distinction and Meritorious Service Awards Committee were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is;
	(3)  who the members of the (a) Charities Advisory Committee, (b) Health Promotion Agency, (c) Mental Health Commission, (d) Fire Authority for Northern Ireland and (e) Local Government Staff Commission were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Paul Murphy: The most recently published information on members of the Boards of public bodies, their term of office and remuneration is contained in the Public Appointments Annual Report. A copy of the latest report (covering the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) is available from the Library of the House and on the internet at: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments
	The salaries of the Chairpersons of Education and Library Boards were reviewed in August 2003 and were increased to £10,000 per annum with effect from 1 April 2002.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the (a) Southern Education and Library Board, (b) Western Education and Library Board, (c) Northern Ireland Museums Council, (d) Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and (e) Eastern Health and Social Services Board were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Paul Murphy: The most recently published information on members of the Boards of public bodies, their term of office and remuneration is contained in the Public Appointments Annual Report. A copy of the latest report (covering the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) is available from the Library of the House and on the internet at: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments
	The salaries of the Chairpersons of Education and Library Boards were reviewed in August 2003 and were increased to £10,000 per annum with effect from 1 April 2002.
	The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum became part of National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland with effect from 1 April 1998.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the (a) Rent Assessment Panel, (b) Northern Ireland Housing Executive, (c) Laganside Corporation, (d) Advisory Committee on Travellers and (e) Planning Appeals Committee were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Paul Murphy: The most recently published information on members of the Boards of public bodies, their term of office and remuneration is contained in the Public Appointments Annual Report. A copy of the latest report (covering the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) is available from the Library of the House and on the internet at: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments
	The Advisory Committee on Travellers was not re-appointed when its term of office expired on 31 December 1999.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the (a) Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland, (b) Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland, (c) Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland, (d) Fishery Authority for Northern Ireland and (e) Industrial Research and Technology Board were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Paul Murphy: The most recently published information on members of the Boards of public bodies, their term of office and remuneration is contained in the Public Appointments Annual Report. A copy of the latest report (covering the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) is available from the Library of the House and on the internet at: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments
	The Industrial Research and Technology Board was subsumed into Invest Northern Ireland with effect from 1 April 2002. The Fishery Authority for Northern Ireland is more commonly known as the Fishery Harbour Authority for Northern Ireland.

Schools (Bullying)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children have had to move schools as a result of bullying in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) North Down in each of the past five years; and what steps he is taking to reduce these figures.

Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education does not collect information about the number of pupils who move schools as a result of bullying. Parents move their children from one school to another for a variety of reasons, which may include alleged bullying. However, there is no requirement for parents to advise any statutory agency of the reasons for the move. The Department recognises that bullying in whatever form and for whatever reason, have no place in schools. The Department has issued comprehensive guidance to all schools about how to tackle bullying. Further, the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 2003, which came into operation on 1 April 2003, places a duty on all grant-aided schools to have an anti-bullying policy and to draw up measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.

Airport/Port Security

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the current security arrangements at Northern Ireland's ports and airports.

Jane Kennedy: A number of agencies work together, each with specific roles that contribute to the overall security at ports and airports. Security regimes are routinely inspected by the appropriate regulatory body to ensure that operating authorities comply with the requirements placed upon them.

Solectron

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with (a) Invest Northern Ireland and (b) NORTEL Northern Ireland on the future of Solectron Carrickfergus.

Ian Pearson: I have discussed the future of Solectron with Invest NI. In addition in November 2003, I met with senior Nortel executives in Montreal and Ottawa, Canada, to discuss future business issues. I also met Nortel's Northern Ireland Management on 2 February 2004. Invest NI continues to maintain contact with senior Solectron executives in Europe and the United States.

Statutory Sick Pay

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997.

Ian Pearson: The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Burglary

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance is given on (a) whether bail should be granted following a charge of house burglary and (b) the level of sentencing appropriate following a conviction for house burglary.

Christopher Leslie: The judiciary in both the Crown and magistrates court will apply any case law and relevant court of appeal judgments when making decisions on bail and sentence. Guidelines for sentencing in dwelling house burglary cases were laid out by the Lord Chief Justice in a 2002 judgment.
	All magistrates receive training on the law in relation to bail and sentencing organised by the 42 independent Magistrates Courts Committees. In addition, they are issued with an Adult Court Bench Book, published by the Judicial Studies Board. This bench book includes a structured decision-making guide for use when making both bail and sentencing decisions. It also contains copies of both the National Mode of Trial Guidelines issued by the Lord Chief Justice as part of the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction and the newly revised Magistrates Court Sentencing Guidelines. Both of these documents provide guidance in relation to dwelling house burglaries. The Adult Court Bench Book is publicly available through the website www. jsboard.co.uk.

Consultations

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list those individuals and organisations (a) to whom (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible sent a copy of the consultations (A) Combining English local authority, Greater London Authority and European Parliament elections: a consultation paper, (B) Modernising the civil courts: a consultation paper and (C) Constitutional reform: next steps for the House of Lords and (b) from who each received a response in each case.

Christopher Leslie: These consultation papers, as is routine with Government consultation, were published on the Department's websites. They were each distributed to a wide number of consultees, and each received a significant number of detailed responses.
	I have placed a list of consultees and respondents to the "Combining English local authority, Greater London Authority and European Parliament elections" and "Modernising the Civil Courts" consultation papers in the Library of the House.
	222 people responded to the consultation paper "Constitutional reform: next steps for the House of Lords". The consultation paper was sent to all those referred to in annex B of the paper, and others as requested. A summary of responses to the consultation will be published shortly, along with legislation to give effect to the Government's proposals.

Correspondence

Steve Webb: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 29 August 2003 from the hon. Member for Northavon, forwarded to him by the Department for Work and Pensions, reference 142208, regarding Mr. Dicker.

David Lammy: I wrote to the hon. Member for Northavon on 26 October 2003 in response to his letter of 29 August. I apologise that the hon. Member does not appear to have received the letter of 26 October. A further copy has been forwarded to the hon. Member.

Decennial Records

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1112W, on the 1911 Census, if the Lord Chancellor will amend Instrument No.12 (1966) to reduce the period of closure of decennial records to 50 years.

Christopher Leslie: The Lord Chancellor has not given consideration to amending Instrument No. 12 to reduce the closure period of decennial census records to 50 years.

Judicial Appointments Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he last met the Lord Chief Justice to discuss his proposals to create a Judicial Appointments Commission.

Christopher Leslie: The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice regularly discuss judicial issues and constitutional reform.
	They last met to discuss the Judicial Appointments Commission on 18 December 2003. Subsequent to this meeting, they have also had several telephone conversations to discuss the proposals to create a Judicial Appointments Commission.

Mr. Balwant Singh

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the letter sent by the hon. Member for Leicester, East to Miss Fitzmaurice on 2 December 2003, what progress has been made in finding the file of Mr. Balwant Singh.

David Lammy: This appeal has not been received by the Immigration Appellate Authority. The British High Commission in New Delhi are responsible for forwarding the appeal papers to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND). Checks with IND have confirmed that no papers have been received pertaining to the appeal of a Mr. Balwant Singh.

Mr. Philip Brown

Roger Williams: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reason Mr. Philip Brown of Llandrindod Wells, reference CSCU 121/03, was refused a refund of the fee charged to gain Power of Attorney for his late mother.

David Lammy: Mr. Brown paid a fee to the Court of Protection for an application to register an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA).
	The application was received on 25 March 2003. Mrs. Brown unfortunately died on 27 April 2003 while the court waited for the statutory 35 day waiting period following notification of relatives of the application to expire before issuing the Enduring Power sealed by the court.
	EPA fees are payable under Rule 26 of the Court of Protection (Enduring Powers of Attorney) Rules 2001. The court has set guidelines for the remission of fees, to ensure that cases are with consistently.
	According to these guidelines, a registration fee will be remitted if the donor of the EPA dies within five working days of the application. This is because most of the administrative work generated by an application to register an EPA is done within the first few days of the application.

Public Defender System

David Drew: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to extend the public defender system.

David Lammy: In order to better assess the performance of the PDS, the LSC, with the agreement of Ministers, increased the number of PDS offices from six to eight in 2003. Ministers will make a decision on the future of the PDS in the light of the research at the end of 2005. There are no current plans to open further offices but the Government and the LSC have always said that the PDS provides a flexible option to deliver criminal defence services, for example, where existing provision is low, or of poor quality.

Trials

David Drew: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what measures he is taking to deal with the problems caused by (a) ineffective and (b) cracked trials.

Christopher Leslie: My Department, in conjunction with other criminal justice agencies, is actively addressing the problems of ineffective and cracked trials. The CJS PSA2 seeks to bring 1.2 million offenders to justice by 2006 and to reduce the proportion of ineffective trials. My Department aims to cut the ineffective rate in the crown court from 24 per cent. to 17 per cent. and in the magistrates court from 31 per cent. to 23 per cent. To monitor progress, interim targets have been set for April 2004 of 20.4 per cent. in crown court and 26.5 per cent. in the magistrates court. Following changes to a more victim and witness focused listing system with greater emphasis on trials being effective, over-listing in the crown court has reduced and the ineffective rate has reduced to 19.7 per cent. over the last quarter. Progress in the magistrates court has been slower, which reflects the more diverse nature of the business, but is now achieving a rate of 28.8 per cent. New targets to lower the rate further in 2004–05 are currently being agreed.
	My Department is working with the Home Office, the CPS and the judiciary to address the problems of cracked trials in a number of ways. The most important of these is the tri-lateral Effective Trial Management Programme, which will introduce a Criminal Case Management Framework, which clearly sets out the procedure to be followed in each type of case. This framework will be supported by a new soon to be established Criminal Procedure Rule Committee.
	There will also be provision for judges and magistrates to give an early indication of sentence. These measures, coupled with the CPS taking responsibility for charging and the work being done to support witnesses, will reduce the number of cracked trials and those where the prosecution ends the case or offers no evidence. My Department has an effective performance management system in place which will ensure that the proportion of cracked and ineffective trials will reduce and is currently appointing Case Progression Officers to each area to work closely with other agencies to ensure greater certainty that cases listed proceed as planned.

PRIME MINISTER

Egypt

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister when he plans to make an official visit to Egypt; and what plans he has to invite President Mubarak to the UK on an official visit.

Tony Blair: I have no current plans to do so.

European Constitution

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister what the current status of Britain's red line issues on the European constitution is; whether the British view on those issues was accepted by the Inter-governmental Conference; and whether the issues have to be re-opened.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave in my Statement on the European Council to the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), on 15 December 2003, Official Report, column 1323, and the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory), on 15 December 2003, Official Report, column 1327.

Hutton Report

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister when the Government intends to address the criticism contained in the Hutton Report.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to my statement of 28 January 2004, Official Report, columns 337–43.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make an exception to the usual rule on the non-disclosure of information on Cabinet Committee proceedings in the case of consideration of policy towards Iraq as discussed in the Defence and Overseas Policy Sub-committee.

Tony Blair: No. It is established practice under Exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of the Cabinet and its committees.

Iraq

Mike Hancock: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to offer technical and logistical support to enable the Iraqi Governing Council to organise free and fair elections.

Tony Blair: The UN Secretary-General announced on 26 January that, once satisfied about the security arrangements, he would send a technical team to Iraq to look at the feasibility of holding elections before 30 June.
	The Government welcomes the news and, once we have seen the team's recommendations, we will consider any requests for assistance.
	We have also told the Iraqi Governing Council that we are ready to assist the Transitional Government, where necessary, with the constitution and elections processes envisaged for 2005.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what the sources were of information on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme brought to his attention in the summer of 2002, referred to in his oral evidence to the Hutton Inquiry.

Tony Blair: I received information from a variety of sources, including intelligence reports and assessments.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether he authorised his former Director of Communications to press the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee to revise the nuclear weapons time-line during the revision of the draft dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in September 2002;
	(2)  who authorised his former director of communications to press the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee to alter the nuclear weapons time-line in the draft of the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction from the statement that nuclear weapons could be produced in at least two years, to the statement that nuclear weapons could be produced in between one and two years, as indicated in Mr. Alastair Campbell's e-mail of 19 September 2002 to the Joint Intelligence Committee chairman, submitted by the Prime Minister's office to the Hutton Inquiry as document CAB/11/0091–0092.

Tony Blair: Lord Hutton found in his report that
	"Mr Scarlett accepted some of the drafting suggestions made to him by 10 Downing Street but he only accepted those suggestions which were consistent with the intelligence known to the JIC and he rejected those suggestions which were not consistent with such intelligence and the dossier issued by the Government was approved by the JIC". (HC 247 paragraph 228).

Iraq Survey Group

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer to the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) of 28 January 2004, Official Report, column 305, on the Iraq Survey Group report, when the evidence was published; where it was published; and if he will place the full interim Iraq Survey Group report in the Library.

Tony Blair: The leader of the Iraq Survey Group, Dr. David Kay, presented an unclassified summary report to the US authorities on 2 October 2003, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. This summary report contains numerous references to a clandestine network of laboratories in Iraq.
	The full report, which was shared in confidence with other principal coalition partners, contains detailed and operationally sensitive information and is highly classified. It has been the practice of successive Governments not to give information on intelligence and security matters, under exemption 1 of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Lord Birt

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister on what subjects he has received reports from Lord Birt in each of the last two years; and what subjects will be considered by Lord Birt in the future.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) on 11 March 2003, Official Report, column 215W.

Normandy Veterans

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Prime Minister whether he plans to attend the Normandy Veterans' 60th Anniversary Service at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Tony Blair: The commemorative service to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings is being organised by the Normandy Veterans Association and is due to take place on 20 October 2004. The Government will be providing assistance for this service and are likely to be represented. Precise arrangements have yet to be finalised.
	Her Majesty the Queen and I have accepted President Chirac's invitation to lead the United Kingdom's participation in the commemorations in France in June.

Political Parties (Ireland)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his discussions with the Irish Government on criminal activities funding political parties.

Tony Blair: The two Governments regularly discuss combating the criminal activities of paramilitary organisations. The detail of these discussions is confidential.
	The mechanisms for funding political parties in Northern Ireland is currently under review and a Parliamentary announcement will be made shortly.

Religious Symbols (French Schools)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the consequences of the proposed banning of religious symbols in schools in France upon European integration.

Tony Blair: None, since religion, and its structure and organisation in EU member states, are explicitly not an area of European Union activity. This is entirely a matter for individual countries to decide. In Britain we are comfortable with the expression of religion, which is part of our multicultural tradition.

Travellers

Andrew Selous: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer of 14 January 2004, Official Report, column 813, to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron), if he will ensure that the enforcement of planning law in relation to travellers referred to is included in the Planning Bill; and if he will agree to meet the hon. Members for Billericay and South-West Bedfordshire and other concerned hon. Members on this subject.

Tony Blair: The planning system is complex and the issues raised are complicated and wide-ranging. We are continuing to assess the issue of strengthening enforcement in respect of breaches of planning control and to consider whether any new powers are needed in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.
	I am aware that Planning Ministers have already met the hon. Member and other hon. Members on this issue and would be happy to meet them again as new issues arise.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions the additional powers which provide the authority for his Department to supply information which related to benefit fraud and error to countries outside the UK introduced by the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 have been used in each year since the powers took effect; and if he will list (a) the countries involved and (b) the action that resulted in each of the cases involved.

Chris Pond: There are no occasions on which these additional powers have been used.
	Section 5 of the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 provides for an exchange of information with overseas authorities provided similar legislation has been enacted by that country and that the data handling expertise of the receiving country meets the provision on privacy set out the European Convention of Human Rights.
	We have signed an agreement with the Republic of Ireland and will sign an agreement with the Netherlands in the near future that will allow the exchange of information envisaged by Section 5. Although no other agreements have been made at present we have had informal discussions with Germany, France and Spain and have the intention of making agreements across Europe where there is benefit in doing so.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions the additional powers to reduce or withdraw benefits where an offender is convicted twice of benefit offences within a period of three years introduced by the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 have been used in each year since the powers took effect.

Chris Pond: The information is not available in the format requested as information is not held on a year by year basis.
	To date, 26 people have been convicted of benefit fraud against the Department on two or more occasions. Sanctions have been applied to 11 of these cases, five of which have had their benefit reduced, and a further six have had their benefit withdrawn. A further 12 individuals are not currently in receipt of benefit. Additionally, a further three individuals are due to have their benefits withdrawn after the appeal period allowed has lapsed.

Disability Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of those registered disabled (a) adult and (b) children received (i) Incapacity Benefit, (ii) Disability Living Allowance and (iii) Attendance Allowance in each local authority ward, listed in descending order in the counties of (a) Denbighshire and (b) Conwy for the latest year in which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The information is not available. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines disability. Since its introduction, disabled people no longer register as disabled. Information regarding numbers of people in receipt of these benefits in each local authority ward in the counties of Denbighshire and Conwy has been placed in the Library.

HSE (Fuel Leakages)

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many leakages from underground fuel tanks were reported to the Health and Safety Executive in the last five years.

Des Browne: The Health and Safety Executive does not collect statistics specifically on the number of leakages from underground fuel tanks.

Learning Disabilities

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures are taken to ensure that those clients with learning disabilities are not penalised for earning below the £20 limit.

Maria Eagle: For people claiming Income Support, earnings are normally taken fully into account when deciding how much benefit can be paid. However, for certain vulnerable groups, including those receiving long term incapacity benefits, we have introduced an earnings disregard of £20; this allows a person to earn up to and including £20 without their benefit entitlement being affected.
	Anybody in receipt of Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance, including people with learning disabilities, can earn up to and including £20 a week for an unlimited period without affecting their benefit.
	We do not believe these arrangements penalise those with learning disabilities, and we have no plans to change them at present.

Security Passes

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) departmental agencies in the last 12 months.

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in his Department in the last 12 months.

Maria Eagle: The Department's records show that the number of passes reported by staff as having been lost in the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 is 352, and the number of passes reported by staff as having been stolen in the same period is one. The records do not distinguish between reports received from staff in the Department and agency staff.

Training Courses

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long an individual must be unemployed before becoming eligible for training courses offered by his Department and its agencies.

Des Browne: Training for unemployed people is available through a range of Jobcentre Plus programmes including Work Based Learning for Adults (WBLA), the New Deals, Employment Zones, Action Teams and our Ambition programmes. The provision of our training courses is targeted at those who will benefit the most from them.
	Eligibility for these programmes, and specifically the period of time people are required to be unemployed before becoming eligible, depends on the particular circumstances of each individual customer. People known to face particular disadvantage in the labour market may be exempt from an unemployment qualifying period, and can join Jobcentre Plus programmes from day one of their unemployment. These can include: disabled people, lone parents and people with basic skills needs.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

High Hedges

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those individuals and organisations (a) to whom (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible sent a copy of the consultation, 'Hedge height and light loss' and (b) from whom each received a response.

Yvette Cooper: 'High hedges and light loss' was produced under contract by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) for the Department. Consultation on the draft version of this guidance was not carried out either by the Department, its executive agencies or a non-departmental public body. BRE sent out copies of 'Hedge height and light loss' for consultation (either electronically or on paper) to the organisations listed as follows. It was also published on the Department's website in April 2001. Those organisations marked with an asterisk submitted detailed responses to consultation, as did a number of individuals (15), mainly people whose houses and gardens were overshadowed by hedges.
	The report 'High hedges, daylight and sunlight', also prepared by BRE, explains how the guidance was developed and modified in the light of the consultation responses. Copies of 'Hedge height and light loss' and 'High hedges, daylight and sunlight' are on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at: www. odpm.gov.uk/treesandhedges and are available in the Libraries of the House.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will shortly be consulting on regulations under the Anti-social Behaviour Act relating to high hedges.
	Arboricultural Association
	Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Officers
	Cornwall County Council
	Delva Patman Associates
	East Dorset District Council
	Elmbridge Borough Council
	Gardening Which?
	Hedgeline
	Horticultural Trades Association
	Islington London Borough Council
	Kent County Council
	Landscape Institute
	Local Government Association
	London Borough of Bromley
	Mediation UK
	National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux
	National Association of Tree Officers
	North West Tree Officers Group
	Poole Borough Council
	Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
	Royal Horticultural Society
	Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
	Royal Town Planning Institute
	Tendring District Council
	Thames Valley Tree Officers Forum
	The London Tree Officers' Association
	Town and Country Planning Association
	Westminster City Council.

Accommodation

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many households containing children or pregnant women were placed in bed and breakfast accommodation (a) in total and (b) by social services departments under legislation other than the Housing Act 1996 and are as a consequence not included in the provisions of the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many households containing children or pregnant women were placed by local authorities in non-self-contained accommodation which is excluded from the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 as a result of the fact that the relevant buildings are owned or managed by a local housing authority, a registered social landlord or a voluntary organisation in each of the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: Information distinguishing the number of households with dependent children or expectant mothers being accommodated in various types of temporary accommodation has only been collected since March 2002. Estimates of such households accommodated in bed and breakfast style units, other forms of shared-facility accommodation, hostels and women's refuges at the end of each quarter are presented in the table. Ownership of these units is not identified, although most B&B and shared-facility units will be privately owned.
	Information about placements of families into bed and breakfast accommodation by social services departments is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.
	
		Homeless families with children or an expectant mother accommodated by local authorities(55) in non self-contained dwellings as at the end of each quarter: England
		
			  Bed and breakfast Other privately owned shared-facility units Hostels Women's refuges Total 
		
		
			 2002  
			 March 6,180 550 3,640 530 10,900 
			 June 6,230 440 4,650 650 11,970 
			 September 5,580 650 5,260 750 12,240 
			 December 4,530 470 4,500 570 10,070 
			 2003  
			 March 4,470 340 4,980 720 10,510 
			 June 3,420 290 5,140 750 9,600 
			 September 3,090 100 5,390 750 9,330 
		
	
	(55) Homeless households accommodated under the Housing Act 1996
	Source:
	ODPM PIE housing activity returns (quarterly)

Area-based Initiatives

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the area-based initiatives which receive funding from his Department; what the total budget is for each; and what amount each received from his Department in this financial year.

Yvette Cooper: The information is as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			 ODPM funded initiatives Total ODPM funding 2003–04 Budget allocation  
		
		
			 Coalfields (56)57.30 22.00 
			 Community Chests 100.00 25.00 
			 European Regional Development Fund Areas (56)672.07 230.53 
			 Market Renewal Pathfinders 500.00 61.20 
			 Neighbourhood Management 91.00 23.00 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 2,019.00 400.00 
			 Neighbourhood Wardens/Street Wardens 45.50 10.00 
			 New Deal for Communities 1,440.00 265.00 
			 Total 4,924.87 1,036.73 
		
	
	(56) SR02 allocation
	Other area-based initiatives:
	Single Regeneration Budget
	In 2001, the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) was subsumed into the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) Single Programme ('Single Pot') from which RDAs will continue to fund existing SRB commitments. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's contribution to the RDAs Single Pot is £4,679 million for 2003–06 and £l,523.7 million for 2003–04.
	Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs)
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not directly fund URCs as funding is channelled through non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and other delivery agents.
	Other initiatives
	Liveability Fund is a pilot scheme working with 27 local authorities giving capital reward grants in return for agreed service improvements in management and maintenance of public spaces and does not focus on specific areas. Total funding for the scheme is £89 million, £7 million of which is budgeted for 2003–04.

Armed Forces (Council Tax)

Robert Key: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in what circumstances private homes owned by Her Majesty's forces qualify for a council tax discount.

Nick Raynsford: Private homes owned by Her Majesty's forces will qualify for council tax discounts in the same way as private homes owned by anyone else. For example, there will be a 25 per cent. discount if it is the taxpayer's sole or main residence and the taxpayer lives by themselves, or if they share with a full time student. If the taxpayer has two private homes, the second home will be subject to a discount. The amount of that discount can be anything from 10 per cent. to 50 per cent., depending on whether the billing authority has passed a resolution to reduce the statutory discount of 50 per cent. The power to reduce that discount came into force on 18 December 2003 for the financial year 2004–05 onwards. In addition, billing authorities now have the power to reduce the amount of council tax which a person is liable to pay in respect of a dwelling. Billing authorities therefore have discretion in effect to grant additional local discounts.

Construction Skills Certificates

Mark Prisk: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards are (a) in circulation and (b) due for renewal in 2005; and what estimate his Department has made of the numbers likely to seek to renew.

Nigel Griffiths: I have been asked to reply.
	The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) is owned and managed by CSCS Ltd and administered on their behalf by CITB-Constructionskills.
	No estimate has been made of the number likely to seek to renew.
	CITB-ConstructionSkills advise that as at 31 December 2003, there were 581,683 (including Affiliates) cards in circulation.
	CITB-Constructionskills advise that in the year 2000, 20,000 cards (excluding affiliates) were issued and with each card lasting five years, one would assume this number would be due for renewal in 2005.

Council Tax

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on what basis the calculation in Cm 3897, page 81, paragraph 6.33 was made that a Band D council tax payer would pay an extra three pence on his or her council tax bill to contribute to the costs of the Mayor, Assembly and new central services; and what the current precept for Band D council tax payers is.

Nick Raynsford: The calculation in Cm 3897 was based on an initial Government estimate of the cost of the Mayor, Assembly and central services before their creation. It is for the Mayor to determine the level of Greater London Authority (GLA) precept. In 2003–04 the total GLA precept for a Band D council taxpayer is £4.31 per week outside the City of London and £1.25 per week in the City of London. Approximately 13.6p a week of this is for the Mayor, Assembly and central services.

European Regional Funding

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the (a) £570 million Government grant for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, (b) £350 million for the North East region and (c) £780 million for the North West region are classed as EU funding.

Nick Raynsford: £185 million for Yorkshire and the Humber, £88 million for the North East and £254 million for the North West of the total budget figures are European Union funding.

Fire and Rescue Service

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has for a fire and rescue service headquarters and control centre for the eastern region.

Nick Raynsford: The Government have no plans for a fire and rescue service headquarters for the eastern region. Each existing Fire and Rescue Authority in the eastern region is responsible for its own headquarters arrangements. On control rooms the Government have said they accept the conclusions of Mott MacDonald report, on the "Future of Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms in England and Wales", published in December 2003. It believes that control rooms at regional level are appropriate for reasons of governance, resilience and intra-service working. It is seeking the views of the Practitioners' Forum, authorities and the service on the conclusions of the report and the Government's response. Copies of the report are available in the Library of the House.

Home Ownership Task Force

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made since the report of the Home Ownership Task Force of introducing (a) low tranche (below 25 per cent.) shared ownership schemes and (b) lower tranche (below 75 per cent.) Homebuy schemes.

Keith Hill: The Home Ownership Task Force, which reported on 13 November, has proposed 45 recommendations to assist in the delivery of affordable housing. The recommendations included allowing shared owners to purchase further shares in 10 per cent. tranches (rather than the current 25 per cent.) and the introduction of variable equity loans for the Homebuy scheme. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is considering these and other Task Force's recommendations in detail and will respond in the near future.

Home Ownership Task Force

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made since the report of the Home Ownership Task Force of the case for requiring the Housing Corporation (a) to set benchmark rents for shared ownership properties and (b) to monitor the performance of registered social landlords against these.

Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation intends to pilot headline performance indicators for shared ownership in the spring. The indicators have been developed in consultation with affordable housing providers, and measure key aspects of targeting of shared ownership schemes and service delivery.
	The Home Ownership Task Force recommended greater transparency in setting rents for shared ownership properties, with the initial level of rents being monitored to ensure they are good value for money for users. The Housing Corporation already collects data on initial shared ownership rents. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is considering the Task Force recommendations in detail and will respond in the near future.

Homebuy Loans

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Homebuy loans were made in each local authority area in London in 2002–03.

Keith Hill: The following sets out the number of Homebuy loans funded by social housing grant in London in 2002–03 by local authority area.
	
		
			 Local authority name Number 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 5 
			 Barnet 7 
			 Bexley 37 
			 Brent 9 
			 Bromley 21 
			 Croydon 35 
			 Ealing 5 
			 Enfield 49 
			 Greenwich 33 
			 Hackney 2 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 3 
			 Haringey 10 
			 Harrow 7 
			 Havering 23 
			 Hillingdon 9 
			 Hounslow 12 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1 
			 Kingston upon Thames 9 
			 Lambeth 3 
			 Lewisham 11 
			 Merton 7 
			 Newham 5 
			 Redbridge 14 
			 Southwark 1 
			 Sutton 6 
			 Tower Hamlets 4 
			 Waltham Forest 4 
			 Total 332

House Fires

Charles Hendry: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2004, Official Report, column 1463W, how many people died in fires in houses (a) equipped with water sprinklers and (b) not equipped with water sprinklers in 2003.

Nick Raynsford: The latest available information relates to calendar year 2002 and is still provisional. In that year, Fire and Rescue Services in the UK attended 22 fires in dwellings equipped with water sprinklers, there were no deaths reported. In the same period, there were 64,613 fires in dwellings not equipped with water sprinklers, and 443 deaths.

Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the framework agreed by the Housing Corporation and the London boroughs for the pooling of nominations for new lettings on a sub-regional basis.

Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation has advised that there are plans to launch a protocol agreement between London boroughs and housing associations in July 2004, subject to successful consultation and agreement between the parties.
	The Deputy Prime Minister will make a copy of it available in the Library of the House.

Phone Masts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many representations he has received from hon. Members concerning health risks of mobile phone masts.

Keith Hill: Between January 2003 and January 2004, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received 65 letters from Members of Parliament which have included issues relating mobile phone technologies and health.

Phone Masts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to revise the code of practice for mobile phone operators concerning the registration of telephone masts.

Keith Hill: The Code of Best Practice on Mobile Network Development was published on 11 November 2002. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is setting up arrangements to monitor the operation of the Code but has no plans to amend the planning arrangements for telecommunications development at the present time.

Phone Masts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many mobile phone masts there are on his Department's official headquarters.

Keith Hill: Currently there are no mobile phone base stations installed on Eland House.

Phone Masts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many phone masts there are in each local authority area in England.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Phone Masts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will introduce a compulsory register for local authorities regarding phone masts.

Keith Hill: The current planning guidance on electronic communications is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 8 (revised) (PPG8). It encourages local planning authorities to maintain a register of masts. The Government have no plans to change these arrangements at present.

Phone Masts

John Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will introduce a sequential test for the siting of mobile phone masts to ensure that residential areas are selected only as a matter of last resort.

Keith Hill: Mobile phone mast development in residential areas is subject to the normal telecommunications planning arrangements in place throughout England, set out in Part 24 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (GPDO). These arrangements were significantly strengthened in 2001 and include improved requirements for consulting local people about mast proposals. The changes to the GPDO were underpinned by revised guidance, set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 8, Telecommunications.
	The Stewart Report on Mobile Phones and Health, published in May 2000 did not recommend that the erection of mobile phone masts should be restricted in residential areas and we have no plans to introduce any such restrictions.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister who the members of the (a) Urban Development Corporation Black Country, (b) Urban Development Corporation London Docklands, (c) Urban Development Corporation Merseyside and (d) Urban Development Corporation Tyne and Wear were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Keith Hill: These four urban development corporations were wound up in 1998. They became non-operational on 1 April 1998 and were finally dissolved in July 1998. All board memberships therefore came to an end at that time.

Public Bodies

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the quangos which have a remit in the regions of the (a) North West, (b) North East and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Nick Raynsford: There are 19 national public bodies with regional or local offices in the North West of England; 20 in Yorkshire and the Humber; 21 in the North East region. These figures do not include central Government Departments and agencies with regional or local offices in northern England.
	Annex C of the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice" lists the national and regional public bodies that exist in the North East of England. The White Paper sets out the proposed responsibilities of the election of regional assemblies. The proposals will bring some of the bodies under regional democratic control and influence, particularly the Regional Development Agencies, which will be accountable to the elected assembly.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the evidential basis is for the statement in Cm 5511 page 47, paragraph 5.13 on assemblies covering additional running costs through more effective targeting of resources and efficiency improvements.

Nick Raynsford: The Government will expect elected assemblies to deliver the best value for money for their voters. The Government will look to them to seek continuing annual improvements in efficiency in the same way that many private and public sector organisations achieve such savings. Bringing together into one organisation linked resource decisions currently undertaken by a range of disparate organisations will enable better, more consistent targeting and cut out duplication.

Regional Assemblies

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list (a) the recipient organisations and (b) the financial amounts over which the proposed regional assemblies would have influence in the (i) £1,100 million for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, (ii) £600 million for the North East region and (iii) £1,600 million for the North West region.

Nick Raynsford: The recipient organisations and the financial amounts that elected assemblies would have influence over are:
	
		£ million
		
			 Recipient organisation North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber 
		
		
			 Local Learning and Skills Councils 420 1,027 693 
			 Small Business Service "core" services 6.1 18.1 13.5 
			 Local Transport Plans 106 324 181 
			 Lottery distributors 23.2 56.1 41.5 
			 Environment Agency 0.08 0.5 n/a 
			 English Nature 2.3 3.7 4.4 
			 Countryside Agency 1.2 1.2 1.9 
			 Highways Agency 86.9 262.4 202.8 
			 Total influencing budget 645.78 1,693 1,138.1

Regional Assemblies

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister from which budget (a) £1,100 million funding for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, (b) £600 million funding for the North East region and (iii) £1,600 million funding for the North West region comes.

Nick Raynsford: The budgets for which a future elected regional assembly would be responsible are currently allocated to the Government Offices and non-departmental public bodies from central Government Departments.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what matters are subject to scrutiny by the regional chambers in each of the English regions, and what the cost to public funds for each region was in each of the last three years.

Nick Raynsford: Regional chambers were each allocated a Government grant of £500,000 in 2001–02 and £600,000 in each of 2002–03 and 2003–04 in order to help develop their capacity, specifically including their ability to undertake scrutiny of the Regional Development Agency for their region.
	The details of the coverage of that scrutiny, and the process, vary from region to region and time to time, by agreement between the chamber and its Regional Development Agency.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the cost savings that will be made as a result of transferring powers and responsibilities currently held by the Government Offices for the Regions to elected regional assemblies.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates that each assembly would cost around £25 million a year to run. But £5 million of this cost will be directly offset because staff will be transferring from existing bodies, such as the region's Government Office.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what powers and responsibilities he expects elected regional assemblies to exercise that are exercised by (a) central Government and (b) local government.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 347W.

Right to Buy

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the review of the system for valuing properties for Right to Buy purposes undertaken by the College of Estate Management.

Keith Hill: Yes. A copy of the report will be made available in the Library of the House when it is published shortly.

Social Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2004, Official Report, column 1464W, in what circumstances a bed space is counted as a unit for the purposes of calculating the number of social housing units built or otherwise acquired by registered social landlords.

Keith Hill: A bed space is counted as a unit for purposes of calculating the number of social housing units built or acquired by registered social landlords where the individual occupying the bed space has a separate occupancy agreement.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) criteria and (b) benchmarks have been established for monitoring the implementation of the Government's plans for the Thames Gateway, Essex region; who is responsible for the monitoring; and how they will report back findings.

Keith Hill: The Government's plans for the Thames Gateway region, including south Essex, are set out in Creating Sustainable Communities: Making It Happen in the Thames Gateway and Growth Areas, published on 30 July 2003. That document makes it clear that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be establishing a Gateway delivery office to work alongside local, regional and national partners to turn strategic plans into operational programmes. The Gateway office will be responsible for monitoring implementation of the Government's plans and for communicating progress. It is anticipated that the office will be up and running shortly.

DEFENCE

Bugaled Breizh

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance was (a) sought and (b) given by his Department's personnel following the distress alert recorded from the Bugaled Breizh on the afternoon of 15 January.

Adam Ingram: The Bugaled Breizh was 14 nautical miles (nm) south of Lizard, when it capsized. HMS Tyne, on Fishery Protection duties 22 nm NE of the trawler proceeded to the scene and was tasked by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre to co-ordinate the search. Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Search and Rescue helicopters were also deployed and recovered two bodies from the sea.

Days at Sea

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many operational days have been spent at sea by each (a) Invincible class aircraft carrier, (b) Type 42 destroyer, (c) Type 23 frigate, (d) Type 22 frigate and (e) fleet submarine in each of the past five years.

Adam Ingram: The information requested is being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

Defence Export Services Organisation

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has produced written guidelines for how staff in the Ministry and in the Defence Export Services Organisation should deal with allegations of overseas bribery and corruption.

Adam Ingram: The Civil Service Code, which is reproduced in the Ministry of Defence Civilian Manual on Conduct, requires that evidence of criminal or unlawful activity by others shall be reported to the appropriate authorities.

Driving Offences (Northern Ireland)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces based in Northern Ireland were found to be driving without a valid (a) driving licence or (b) insurance in each of the last five years; and how many of these cases resulted in a conviction.

Adam Ingram: The information requested is not immediately available due to a computer failure. We are seeking to retrieve the necessary data as quickly as possible and I will write to the hon. Member when the figures are available.

Enhanced Body Armour

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy for troops engaged in (a) expeditionary and (b) peacekeeping operations to be issued with sets of enhanced body armour as part of their personal equipment.

Adam Ingram: United Kingdom armed forces deploying on peace support operations already routinely receive Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA). The policy for the issue of ECBA to UK servicemen and women prior to their deployment to operational theatres is under review.

Enhanced Body Armour

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sets of ceramic body armour have been issued by the Department in each year since 1992.

Geoff Hoon: pursuant to his answer, 26 January 2004, Official Report, c. 6
	I need to correct that answer. Ceramic body armour (ceramic plates) has been issued since 1992 when an initial issue of 32 individual plates was made. Each soldier requires one pair of plates. Combat Body Armour or Enhanced Combat Body Armour is not usually issued as a complete set.
	Instead, units request the number of components (covers, fillers and individual plates) required to make up the sets that they need. Current estimates of the issue history of ceramic plates since their introduction into service show an average of approximately 4,000 issues a year up to 1999 when nearly 23,000 were issued. Most recently in 2003 more than 80,000 individual ceramic plates were issued.

Foreign Ships

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2004, Official Report, column 68W, on foreign ships, how many vessels considered for charter by his Department have been rejected in each of the last five years because they failed (a) to meet technical requirements and (b) to pass a risk assessment undertaken by a marine surveyor.

Adam Ingram: Information on why vessels fail consideration of charter by the Ministry of Defence is not held centrally. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Iraq

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which equipment purchased under urgent operational requirements for the Iraq war will be sold; how much it cost to acquire; how much its sale is expected to realise; and to whom it is intended to be sold.

Adam Ingram: The principal focus of the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) process is to provide additional capabilities to meet the demands of specific operations. The majority of equipment purchased for Operation Telic under UOR procedures continues to be used in support of that operation.
	When an operation comes to an end or particular UOR equipment is withdrawn, the Department considers, as part of the annual planning round, whether that equipment can and should be retained in-service. That process is currently under way: it is therefore too early to say which UORs will be retained in-service.

Iraq

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith) of 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 537W, on Iraq, how many military vehicles hit by depleted uranium munitions have been identified within the southern sector of Iraq under British control; if he will list the options open to coalition forces to deal with these vehicles; when he expects work to begin; what risk assessment of Iraqi (a) adults and (b) children has been carried out; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: To date eight military vehicles have been identified as having been hit by depleted uranium (DU) munitions within the southern sector of Iraq under British military control. All these vehicles have been clearly marked. Arrangements are currently being negotiated with the US for a contractor to collect and securely store these military vehicles.
	Generic assessments of the potential risks from DU munitions have been carried out by organisations such as the Royal Society and the United Nations Environment Programme and are available on the world wide web at: www.postconflict.unep.ch/ and www.royalsociety.ac.uk/du/ The levels of DU contamination found by MOD personnel are much lower than those predicted from these theoretical risk assessments.

Iraq

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether troops serving in Iraq who have purchased winter footwear at their own expense will be reimbursed by the Ministry of Defence;
	(2)  whether all British troops serving in winter conditions during the winter of 2004–05 in Iraq will be issued with appropriate winter footwear;
	(3)  whether sufficient winter footwear is in stock to ensure that all troops serving in winter conditions in Iraq are issued with a pair.

Adam Ingram: There is no need for soldiers to purchase their own winter footwear for Iraq. Soldiers currently serving in Iraq have deployed with both Desert Boots and Combat Assault Boots. Combat Assault Boots are suitable for a minimum temperature of minus 19 degrees centigrade and are appropriate for the temperatures experienced in southern Iraq during the winter months.

Management Consultants

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department of using management consultants has been in each of the last five years.

Ivor Caplin: Summaries of the Ministry of Defence expenditure on External Assistance (EA), of which management consultancy is a part, are available in the Libraries of both Houses for the years 1995–96 to 2002–03. Expenditure on management consultants over the last five years can be provided only at disproportionate cost as it has not previously been recorded as a specific category of EA.
	EA expenditure has been recategorised to capture spend on management consultancy and this will be reflected in the returns for Financial Year 2003–04.

Military Museums andPublic Bodies (Membership)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who the members of the (a) RAF Museum, (b) Royal Marines Museum, (c) Royal Navy Submarine Museum, (d) National Army Museum, (e) Defence Scientific Advisory Council, (f) Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors and (g) Review Board for Government Contracts were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Ivor Caplin: Details of the Non Departmental Public Bodies requested are listed as follows. This includes details of membership, whether or not the positions are remunerated and what the current expiry date is for each appointment. Appointments are usually made for a period of three or five years, depending on the body concerned, with the potential for reappointments up to 10 years. Members can serve longer if there are exceptional circumstances, however, extensions beyond the 10 year point have to be agreed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
	The Service Museums also employ and pay for a number of staff, Details of staff employed and the remuneration levels set for their Chief Executives can be found in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies", the most recent of which is "Public Bodies 2003" a copy of which is on the Cabinet office website at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/agencies-publicbodies .
	Due to the terms of their trust deeds the Royal Marines Museum and Royal Navy Submarine Museum also have Trustee/Ex-Officio members on their boards, details of which are attached for completeness. These board members do not have standard terms and, given that they are not public appointments, no expiry date need be placed on their membership of the board.
	
		
			 NDPB Member Expiry date Remunerated 
		
		
			 Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors Mr. A. G. Corless 30 April 2007 Yes 
			 Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors Judge M. Harris (Chairman) 11 January 2012 Yes 
			 Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors Mr C. M. Lake 30 April 2007 Yes 
			 Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors Judge T. Lawrence (Deputy Chairman) 29 April 2012 Yes 
			 Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors Mrs. L. L. Phipps 30 April 2007 Yes 
			 Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors Mr. K. N. Walton 30 April 2007 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Dr. L. Bennet 28 February 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Professor A. Carruthers 28 February 2004 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Professor J. Hetherington 28 February 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Professor J. Inkson 28 February 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Dr. J. King 31 August 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Professor A. Kinloch 31 March 2004 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Dr. A. Mears 30 March 2005 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Dr. D. Price 01 March 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council (57)Details Withheld 28 February 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Mr. P. Stein 28 February 2006 Yes 
			 Defence Scientific Advisory Council Professor R. Voles 30 April 2004 Yes 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mrs. J. Baldock 01 June 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Lt. Col. D. Barnard 4 April 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. J. Bond 01 June 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mrs. P. Cave 01 June 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Miss D. Fordham 4 April 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. D Gower 01 March 2008 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. J Harris 01 June 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. R Jacklin (Chairman) 01 June 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. L. Roman 04 April 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. A. Schooler 01 August 2008 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. G. Thomas 04 April 2006 No 
			 IBOV to MCTC Colchester Mr. M. Alcock 01 March 2008 No 
			 National Army Museum Admiral Sir J. Black 31 August 2006 No 
			 National Army Museum Mr. R. Marriot (58)01 February 2002 No 
			 National Army Museum The Hon. D. McAlpine 31 August 2006 No 
			 National Army Museum Sir N. Mobbs 31 August 2006 No 
			 National Army Museum The Right Reverand P. Nott 29 June 2004 No 
			 National Army Museum Professor B. H. Reid 31 August 2006 No 
			 National Army Museum Lady M. Vaizey 29 June 2004 No 
			 National Army Museum General Sir J. Waters (Chairman) 30 June 2006 No 
			 Review Board for Government Contracts Mr. F. Ashman 18 November 2004 Yes 
			 Review Board for Government Contracts Dr. A. Fox 30 September 2006 Yes 
			 Review Board for Government Contracts Mr. C. Melrose 31 March 2005 Yes 
			 Review Board for Government Contracts Mr. G. Staple CB QC (Chairman) 28 February 2005 Yes 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Rt. Hon. Baroness E. Blatch 24 August 2006 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Lord A. Clarke 12 September 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Sir N. Cossons 05 July 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum AVM D. Crwys-Williams 12 September 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Mr. M. Dale 05 November 2005 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Mr. A. Edwards 24 August 2006 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Sir R. Evans 06 August 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Lord D. Evans of Watford 05 November 2005 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Sir G. Hosker 05 July 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Sir R. Jackling 05 November 2005 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum ACM R. Johns (Chairman) 06 December 2006 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum HE Air Marshal I McFadyen 03 July 2005 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum The Rt. Hon. Sir G. Pattie 05 July 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Dr. J Rowbotham 02 September 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Mr. A. Stewart 12 September 2004 No 
			 Royal Air Force Museum Mr. D. Young 03 May 2005 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Lt. Gen. H. Beverley (Chairman) 01 May 2007 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Mr. P. Cautley 01 May 2006 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Mr. J. G. Farnhill 01 May 2007 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Mr. M. Heighton 10 April 2005 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Mr. J. Kenroy 01 May 2006 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Mr. R. Niddrie 01 May 2006 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Col. J. M. Phillips 10 April 2005 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Professor J Purvis 10 April 2005 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum Mrs. S. Rhys Jones 10 April 2005 No 
			 Royal Marines Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) WO J. Forster N/a No 
			 Royal Marines Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) Cllr. M. S. Geddes N/a No 
			 Royal Marines Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) Cap. B. J. Gibbs N/a No 
			 Royal Marines Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) Cllr. M. Hancock N/a No 
			 Royal Marines Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) Col. J. P. C. Heal N/a No 
			 Royal Marines Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) Lt. Col A. J. F. Noyes N/a No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Dr. M. C. Copp 05 July 2005 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Rear Admiral A. Hoddnott 01 October 2008 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Cap. T. Meadows 01 October 2004 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Vice Admiral Sir R. Newman (Chairman) 01 August 2004 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Mr. R. Shadla-Hall 12 July 2006 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Mr. L Shurmer-Smith 12 July 2006 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum Mr. R. Webb 01 October 2007 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum—Trustee Mr. H. Burgess N/a No 
			 Royal Navy Sumarine Museum-Trustee Cllr. M. Geddes 01 May 2005 No 
			 Royal Navy Submarine Museum—Trustee (Ex-officio) Mr. T. Walters 01 July 2004 No 
		
	
	(57) Details withheld under Section 12 of the "Code of Practice on Release of Government Information"
	(58) Currently extended due to exceptional circumstances.

Mine Countermeasure Vessels

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mine countermeasure vessels have been in service with the Royal Navy in each year since 1997.

Adam Ingram: The number of MCM vessels in service with the Royal Navy in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 23 
			 1998 (59)20 
			 1999 (59)21 
			 2000 (59)22 
			 2001 (59)21 
			 2002 (60)19 
			 2003 (60)19 
		
	
	(59) This includes three HUNT class ships converted for NI patrol duties, but which until March 2002 were at 90 days notice for MCM duties.
	(60) This includes HMS Bridport, which has been placed in a state of extended readiness since March 2002.

Mine Countermeasure Vessels

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the requirement for nine countermeasures vessels has changed since the Strategic Defence Review.

Adam Ingram: The Strategic Defence Review concluded that we should maintain a force of modern and capable mine counter measure vessels. That remains our policy.

Northern Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers have been (i) killed and (ii) injured by terrorist actions in Northern Ireland since 1974;
	(2)  how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time Royal Irish Regiment soldiers have been (i) killed and (ii) injured by terrorist actions in Northern Ireland since 1974.

Adam Ingram: From 1 January 1974 until 30 June 1992 there have been 37 full-time and 121 part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment who have died as a result of terrorist activity. On 1 July 1992 the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Rangers were amalgamated to form the Royal Irish Regiment. From that date two full-time members and four part-time members were killed as a result of terrorist activity.
	Statistics relating to injuries are not recorded in a format that allows a break down between full-time and part-time members who have been injured as a result of terrorist activity. The statistics also include those who have been injured as a result of public disorder. However, from 1 January 1974 to 30 June 1992, 376 members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were recorded as injured as a result of terrorist activity or public disorder and from 1 July 1992, 152 members of the Royal Irish Regiment were recorded as injured by terrorist activity or public disorder.

RAF Bicester

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the evidence on which his decision that the most cost-effective transfer of glider squadrons from RAF Bicester would be to RAF Halton was based.

Adam Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Ships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what delays have occurred in the construction of RFA Largs Bay; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Delays to the construction of RFA Largs Bay have resulted from engineering and design issues, leading to a need for some rework. The ship is currently scheduled to enter service in late 2005.

Royal Irish Regiment (Jonathan Russell)

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when Jonathan Russell of the Royal Irish Regiment was arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland; when he was charged with offences arising from the protests in Portadown in July 2002; what rank of officer made representations on his behalf connected with the bail application; what rank of officer was responsible for overseeing his behaviour while on bail; and what internal disciplinary action has been taken following conviction.

Adam Ingram: John Russell was not in the Army at the time of his conviction. Issues relating to his arrest, charge and bail are matters for the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Civil Courts.

Sunset Clauses

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his policy on the use of sunset clauses in legislation; and which Acts containing such clauses relevant to his Department were passed in each year since 1997.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is guided by the revised Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance, "Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment", published on 28 January 2003. The guidance advises policy officials to consider time limiting or sunsetting at an early stage of policy development and gives specific examples of where sunsetting may be appropriate.
	The Ministry of Defence has one Act that has been passed since 1997 which contains such a clause, the Armed Forces Act 2001.

Trident Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the running costs of the Trident programme have been since it came into service; what the running costs of the Trident programme are in this financial year; and what the total lifetime running costs of the Trident programme are expected to be at the end of its service period.

Geoff Hoon: The combined capital and running costs of Trident, since it was declared operational in 1994, has ranged between 2 per cent. and 4 per cent. of the annual defence budget. The total cost of Trident for financial year 2003–04 is not yet available.
	Based on current planning assumptions the costs for its remaining period in service are expected to be between 2 per cent. and 3 per cent. of the expected annual defence budget.

Trident Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Trident submarines are on active service; and how many are being repaired.

Adam Ingram: Three Trident submarines are rotating through the operational cycle. The fourth is undergoing a period of pre-planned long maintenance and refuelling.

Trident Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) missiles and (b) warheads are deployed on Trident submarines; and what the approximate yield of the nuclear warheads deployed is.

Geoff Hoon: The UK's Trident submarines can carry up to 16 missiles but normally carry fewer; I am withholding further information under Exemption 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information for reasons of national security. The submarine on patrol carries 48 warheads. As for warhead yields, I am withholding the information requested under Exemption 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information for reasons of national security.

Uzbekistan

Alice Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military aid the UK has provided to Uzbekistan since 2001.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's military assistance to Uzbekistan since 2001 has been focused on assisting the Uzbekistan Ministry of Defence with its defence reform efforts through training and advice, which has included stressing the importance of respect for the rule of law and human rights. The United Kingdom also provided a modest amount of military aid to Uzbekistan in March 2002—100 combat helmets and 15 mine detectors.

Welsh Regiments and Battalions

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the average number of days' leave soldiers in Welsh battalions have had in each year since 1997.

Adam Ingram: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The annual leave entitlement for all Army personnel currently stands at 30 working days per year.

Welsh Regiments and Battalions

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from Welsh battalions were involved in covering for firefighters during Fire Brigades Union strikes since 1997; and on how many days soldiers from Welsh battalions were involved in covering for firefighters.

Adam Ingram: Approximately 1,500 soldiers from Welsh Battalions have been involved in covering for firefighters during Fire Brigades Union strikes since 1997. This was over a cumulative period of about 15 days, all of which were during the 2002–03 strike.

Welsh Regiments and Battalions

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the authorised strength is of each Welsh regiment; and how many vacancies there are in each.

Ivor Caplin: The current figures for the establishment and strength of the Welsh Regiments, as at 1 December 2003, are included in the following table:
	
		
			 Regiment Unit Establishment Unit Strength 
		
		
			 1st Battalion, The Queen's Dragoon Guards 454 460 
			 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Wales 741 680 
			 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards 618 630 
			 1st Battalion, The Royal Welch Fusiliers 668 650

Training (Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total number of days was that members of the armed forces spent training in Wales in each year since 1997.

Adam Ingram: We do not hold central information on this basis.